Rumplestiltskin Must Die
by TeamTHEFT
Summary: OUAT meets the concept of John Tucker Must Die, but then gets serious. When Belle French moves to Storybrooke with her father and younger brother, she's in for a whirlwind of revenge, cheaters, spurned women, crazy uncles, and fake A serious story that includes a gay Graham, a younger Henry, an abusive Moe French, and a Rumplestiltskin with more layers than an onion.
1. Chapter 1

**(New A.N. I was informed of a repeated sentence in this chapter, so I fixed it and reuploaded it. :) )**

**Yes, this is a new story. I want to start out with making a few things clear.**

**1. I already have this entire story planned out. Despite what your opinions are, while I do want to hear them, I will have you know that I already know exactly what I plan on doing for every aspect of this story.**

**2. I'm writing this because I want to. It's being written to please me. Bear that in mind. **

**3. My other story; A Poor Spinner, Her Children, and the King; is still being written. I have two more chapters left to write and then it will be finished. That is the only reason I am going ahead and posting this. **

**4. I've had this written for awhile. Not all of it, but a good chunk of it.**

**5. As you will very early on notice, it is based on the movie John Tucker Must Die. However, at the same time it is not. It began as that, but morphed into something so much more. So bear with me. It is very, very different, especially after the first few chapters.**

**6. There may be a few things that seem unrealistic. I understand. That's because it made sense to me when I was writing it, and I wasn't sure how to tweak it just right to make it make perfect sense. So some things may not make perfect sense. **

**7. Both updates and lengths of chapters will be sporatic. You've been warned.**

**If you've read all that, congrats. On with the story. :) -Andi**

**Rumplestiltskin Must Die**

I was in seventh grade when I realized I was invisible.

Not the kind of invisibly you're thinking of. No, people could see me. But no one really did. I was more or less…anonymous. I was the seventh grader with no friends, the one who was smart but not quite smart enough to hang out with the brainiacs. I was just…there.

However, I never really bothered worrying about things like that. It never bothered me.

At least, I pretended it didn't.

My name is Belle French, and this is my story.

Seventh grade was vital to me. It was the year my mother died. It was the year I got a new cousin/brother. It was when I reached enlightenment about my existence. And it was the year my father began his new life.

My mother died of cancer. I guess she must've had it for years, but I never noticed anything was wrong. Not until she was put in the hospital all the time. It was a nightmare. Every spare second, we were at the hospital. She lasted maybe six months before dying. She died the day I started seventh grade.

If that didn't make things worse, before she died, she told my father that she needed him to take care of her nephew. Her baby nephew who had just been born, whose parents didn't want him. She made him promise and even made sure he signed adoption papers alongside her. It just so happened that her death coincided with the day we got to bring my newest baby brother/cousin home with us.

My father wanted nothing to do with little Henry. He never did from the moment he laid eyes on Henry. But it was more than just that. Sometime within the first month after Mom died, my father started drinking. He drank heavily. But on top of drinking, he started dating. My father had always been a handsome man, and the fact that he had two children who needed a mommy had the women flocking to him.

He dated anywhere from two to six women at a time. One was always taking care of Henry and me for him. When Henry started getting old enough that I could take care of him at nights, Father stopped bothering to bring women over at nights. Instead, he started taking his anger about life out on me. It was on one of those nights that I learned about how I was a mistake.

He'd slurred on about how I was never meant to be born. How my mother had had cancer years ago, and that it had destroyed her reproductive organs, but somehow I happened. And how I would have had a new sibling. How the new sibling caused the cancer to reappear.

The words were burnt into my mind. I never forgot those words.

Every time the women found out about my father's cheating ways, he was forced to skip town. This happened so often that there were times I didn't even unpack all of my things from the boxes. Henry and I were constantly uprooted.

I guess that it was a good thing I never made friends. If I had, I wouldn't have kept them.

But this isn't supposed to be my sob story. No. This story is about the move that changed my life.

The move to Storybrooke, Maine.

My father made good money. I wasn't sure exactly how he made all of his money, but he always had plenty of money. Not that it was spent on us. Most of it was spent on booze.

However, we always got a furbished house. Father learned early on that Henry was terrified of him, of the dark, of many things, and refused to sleep anywhere but in the same room as me. As soon as that had been established, he stopped buying houses with rooms for all of us. He got a bedroom, and Henry and I shared a bedroom.

I was seventeen, and a senior in high school. It was December, and the Maine winter was harsh. The house we had this time was slightly bigger than most of our houses. It had two floors, but there was little on both. The top floor consisted of our bedroom and a bathroom, and the downstairs had a kitchen, living room, the master bedroom, and the master bathroom. We got there and Father gave me money to buy groceries.

He usually did this. He had a jar he would deposit money in for groceries and other essentials, but it was vital that I always bought what he wanted to eat. I could buy whatever else I wanted with the rest of it, as long as Father got the food he wanted. Food that was generally expensive.

He also left information on the table. He'd registered us both for school. Henry's school was at a convent, it appeared. A convent that was far out of town. I knew I'd have to walk him there and back. My school, according to Google Maps, was in town.

We decided to visit Henry's school first. It was a Saturday, but since it was a convent I assumed someone would be there at all times. We walked the six miles to the convent. By we, I mean we walked about two of it and then I carried Henry on my back for the last four. It was much too cold for our meager coats. I knew I'd have to dip into my savings and buy me and Henry winter coats for this place.

We arrived there and someone was, indeed, there. A nun by the name of Astrid led us inside to the office where the head nun was.

"Ah. Are you the mother of the new student?" the nun asked. I didn't bother correcting her, simply nodded. She motioned for the seats.

"My name is Mother Superior. Your husband came in and filled out all the paperwork. Is there anything else needed?" Mother Superior asked kindly, but I had a feeling she didn't like me. It wouldn't be too hard to see why, considering she thought I was his mother. But I acted more like a mother to Henry than anyone else could, and I had no problem letting her think I was his mother if it meant I would be informed of anything happening to him.

"Actually, that was my father who came in. I wanted to make sure that the contact information was correct. I'm attending the high school in town, and I am looking for a job. If there is an emergency, please call the high school and ask for me," I told her smoothly. Her frown increased but she nodded.

"Very well. And your father?" she asked.

"Don't bother him. He's extremely busy with his work. We don't like being a burden to him," I told her smoothly. She nodded and I stood.

"Very well. There are no buses. School starts at seven-thirty and ends at three," she told us. I nodded and we left.

We made it to town and did shopping. We didn't have the ability to carry too much to the house, so we got Father's stuff first and walked it back to the house. I decided to look for a job before we got stuff for me and Henry. I had a few copies of my resumes with me since I always needed a job. Despite our short stays, I always got a job when I could. I was saving my money so that, one day, I could leave and take Henry with me. I turned eighteen soon, and hoped that when I did we'd be free of Father.

I stopped in at every shop we saw. We got lucky on our third stop, a diner. When we entered, and elderly lady was bustling around. The place was packed.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm looking for a job," I told her politely when I saw her relax a bit. Her eyes found me instantly and she scanned me. Her eyes landed on Henry and narrowed slightly before they relaxed.

"Do you have a resume?" she asked. I nodded and handed it to her. She looked over it quickly before handing it back to me. She reached under the counter and grabbed an apron, tossing it at me.

"You're hired if you can work right now. My other waitress is swamped since my granddaughter took the night off. Your son can doodle with crayons in the back booth," the lady told me swiftly. My eyes widened.

"Henry, can you wait on me?" I asked him. The five year old stuck his thumb in his mouth and nodded solemnly. I took the proffered crayons and paper and led him to the back, sitting him down. Then, after kissing him on the forehead, I tied the apron on.

"My name's Widow Lucas, but you can call me Granny. We'll discuss details when things slow down in about five hours. Does that sound good?" she asked. I nodded quickly.

"Kathryn will explain how things work. It'll take a minute," Granny promised, motioning for a girl to come over. She smiled shyly at me.

"Hi. I'm Kathryn," she said.

"Belle," I told her.

"It's pretty self-explanatory. Have you been a waitress before?" Kathryn asked. I nodded.

"Good. You'll be fine. Just…if you happen to see a guy in here with multiple dates, don't say anything," Kathryn warned. My eyebrow shot up. Had my father already been here?

"What?" I asked.

"He's a senior in high school. His name's Rumplestiltskin. At least, that's what we all THINK it is. He's a major player. Tonight's one of his favorite date nights. Don't say anything though. He can ruin you," she warned. Then stopped.

"Are you still in high school?" she asked. I nodded, which made her sigh in relief.

"Good. I was afraid I'd made a fool of myself. Is he your son?" she asked, pointing to Henry. I shook my head.

"He's my brother," I told her. That was all we got out before Granny yelled at us to get moving.

It didn't take me long to meet the infamous Rumplestiltskin. He was hard to miss. He put off this aura to him, one that told you he was dangerous. It was an attractive aura, one that pulled you in. I knew it was him without being told. Kathryn nodded to him and pointed at the table.

Without a word, I made my way to his table. I stopped there and he looked up at me, one eyebrow quirking. He was impeccably dressed.

"What can I get you?" I asked him politely. His eyes scanned me up and down, taking me in. When his eyes hit mine once more, he licked his lips.

"Are you on the menu?" he asked. It was the first time any boy had tried flirting with me. If I hadn't already been warned, I might've blushed and blubbered on like a fool. I was, instead, able to keep my cool. When I didn't respond, he sat the menu down.

"I'm not ready to order yet," he said, sighing. He flicked his wrist at me, a very obvious dismissal. The gesture infuriated me, but I sucked it up and walked away. When I got back to the counter, Kathryn was wiping up a spill.

"I gave the kid some hot chocolate with cinnamon. Hope that's okay," Kathryn said. I nodded, my attention caught. A girl had entered the diner and was making her way over to Rumplestiltskin. She was incredibly pale and had black hair cut real short. She reminded me of Snow White. And much too innocent to be caught up with Rumplestiltskin. He snapped his fingers the moment she sat down.

I made my way to his table. The girl was talking.

"…and then I had to finish wrapping up the student council meeting. Everyone was freaking out because the school video cameras had broken. I was just glad I'm the head of that too, or there would have been panic," she was saying. He nodded. He ordered for himself and she ordered for herself. I tripped over something as I started walking away. His foot. I glanced back to see a smug grin on Rumplestiltskin's face. Yep. Definitely his foot. It took all of my self control to not stomp back to the bar.

"That's Mary Margaret Blanchard. She's only a freshman, but she's already in charge of half the school. She's president of student council, she runs the video program, she started three different charity outreach programs which she heads as well, and she's some sort of smart genius," Kathryn stated quietly.

When he left, the only thing he left on the table was a napkin with a phone number on it. I trashed that immediately. He wasn't gone but maybe ten minutes when he walked back in, this time holding another girl's arm. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head as I hurried to wait on the other people in my section. This girl had blonde hair and an air to her that told me she wasn't to be messed with.

I didn't wait for him snap for me this time.

"How's the dance looking?" Rumplestiltskin was asking her.

"Beautiful. Damn August is way too handsy though. I wish you'd just tell people I was your girl so I wouldn't have to deal with him," she complained.

"Now, we both know I can't do that. Mom doesn't want me dating while I'm in high school. Something about focusing on school. That's why we're a secret. Working on a history project," he said with a wink. I was disgusted. Of course.

"What would you like?" I asked, trying to mask my rudeness. The girl turned to look at me. She examined me for a moment before smiling.

"Hot chocolate with cinnamon. And a cheeseburger," she said decisively. Rumplestiltskin ordered a cheeseburger as well, although I knew for a fact he'd just eaten a chicken salad. When I went to leave this time, his hand smacked my butt. I nearly yelped but continued walking. Apparently the girl hadn't noticed.

"That's Emma Swan. Emma's the captain of the dance squad," Kathryn explained as she grabbed food for another table.

I was able to go over to Henry at that time, thank goodness. He had drawn three pictures already and broken his green crayon. He had a chocolate mustache, which I cleaned off him and took his empty cup. I grabbed another green crayon and a few more sheets of paper and brought them to him.

"I'm hungry," Henry said.

"Give me awhile and I'll see about getting you some food," I told him, ruffling his hair affectionately.

I didn't get the chance.

Before I could blink, Emma was gone and replaced with another girl. Kathryn saw my pained expression and made her way over, taking their order. As she did, Rumplestiltskin glared over at me.

When Kathryn came back, she sighed.

"That's Regina Mills. She's the head cheerleader. Real bitch," Kathryn added. I glanced back over at Henry to see that Granny had given him a plate of fries and chicken. When she came back over, she shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. He's been better than my granddaughter did when my daughter brought her here," Granny said dismissively before I could even say anything.

The next time Rumplestiltskin came in, Kathryn was busy. I sighed and made my way to him, knowing it was what would have to happen. This girl had a red streak in her hair and wore all red.

"…and Granny was all like, 'I can't stop making meat. Get over yourself,'" she complained. Rumplestiltskin opened the menu.

"What do they have that's vegan?" he asked her.

"We want two vegan salads," she said, taking the menu from him.

"That's my granddaughter, Ruby," Granny said, irritated, when I made it back to the counter.

"She's a vegan teen activist," added Kathryn, rolling her eyes as she spoke.

"I try telling her he's cheating on her, but she doesn't believe me," Granny added.

When I brought the check to them, Rumplestiltskin tucked money into my pocket. Not my apron pocket. My jeans pocket.

"Keep the change," he told me, waving me off. I stormed off, fuming. I pulled it out to ring up their meal. He'd given me a hundred dollar bill. It was probably to buy my silence. That in itself infuriated me, but I said nothing. Fine. If I had to put up with him, I'd keep his stupid money. I could use it to buy Henry a coat.

Right before closing, he came back in with another girl.

"That's Milah. She's the school slut," Kathryn said. The two sat down at the same table Rumplestiltskin had sat at all night. Only, they didn't even stay long enough for Kathryn to make her way over to them before they were making out. They left quickly.

"Please tell me he's done for the night," I groaned the moment the door closed. A drunk man at the bar left.

"Five's a low number for him. I'd be happy with one," he grumbled, taking another shot of some kind of alcohol.

"Closing time, Leroy. I'll call you a taxi," Granny told him gently. The man grumbled and stumbled his way out.

The phone started ringing. Granny picked it up and frowned as she listened.

"Belle, there's someone calling for you. Says his name is Jefferson?" Granny asked. I shook my head.

"Tell him you don't know a Belle," I told her. She did. And hung up.

"If he ever calls again, unless he mentions something about a Grace being hurt, tell him you don't know me. He's my…for lack of a better word, uncle. He abandoned his son but kept his daughter and he's always asking us for money without letting us see Grace," I told Granny. Granny nodded at my words.

"Is his son…" Granny drifted off, nodding towards Henry. I nodded.

"They were twins. My aunt didn't want either, from what I gathered. I've never met her. But he said he'd take the girl. He didn't even bother looking at the boy. I'm not sure who exactly named Henry. It wasn't him, though. He's never been interested in Henry. We don't even tell him where we are. He just…finds us," I told her awkwardly.

Granny nodded sympathetically at me.

"Let's talk now," she said, motioning for me to sit down at a booth with her.

Granny and I discussed everything from pay to past employers. When it was time to leave, I carried Henry to the grocery store to pick up things for him and me to both eat and our essentials. We got home late and, luckily, Father wasn't there so we were able to go straight to sleep.

Sunday came and went. I worked. And we went to sleep early, preparing for our first day of school.

**There was chapter one. You can review and let me know what you thought. But I would ask that you please don't point out everything that doesn't make sense. I already know a lot of it may not. And I'm sorry for that. But it is fanfiction. And I personally like how it is, so I'm leaving it.**

**Sorry if that seems harsh. I'm not meaning for it to be harsh! :)**

**Andi**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N. I'm going to warn you now, updates probably won't be this fast usually. I felt bad about only giving you that brief introduction. So here is chapter two. Thanks to the reviews I've gotten so far. I really appreciated them!**

**Andi**

**Rumplestiltskin Must Die**

Chapter 2

We woke up earlier than what we did before. Father was still asleep when I bundled up a very tired Henry and drug him out the door. I ended up carrying him halfway there before he was awake enough to walk on his own. I was actually quite thankful for him needing to be carried. Carrying him made it warmer for me.

He got to school rather early, considering I still had to get to school on time. I left him with Sister Astrid, who gave me a pitying look when she saw me trek my way back to town. I got to school early, only to see that it must've been some kind of pep rally kind of week. There were tables everywhere with sign up sheets and bake sale goods. I walked past them and hurried into the office to sign in and get any paperwork. The secretary, a kind lady whose nameplate read Johanna, wished me luck and handed me a map as well to use.

I made it out of the office in time to see Rumplestiltskin breezing in the school. My eyes followed him as he stopped at booth after booth, flirting with one girl a booth. It was easy to recognize the girls he'd gone out with Saturday night. They had a look of superiority on their faces when Rumplestiltskin flirted with them. As if they were the queen bee. And they thought they were.

I looked for Kathryn, but couldn't find her anywhere. That drew a sigh out of me. Of course. And here I'd gotten my hopes up, thinking that maybe I could make my first friend, and it's ripped from me.

I made my way to my first class. Gym. As if my life could get any worse. I got to walk twelve miles before school, only to go to gym as soon as I got there. I entered the gym, only to notice a ton of people were sitting on the bleachers. I saw Kathryn and made my way to her. I sat down near her but not immediately next to her, in case she didn't really want to sit next to me. She was staring at the one P.E. teacher there.

"What's going on?" I asked her. I glanced at my schedule once more. My P.E. teacher was supposed to be a woman…

"The other P.E. teacher got sick and left. They didn't have time to call a replacement in, so we're all together. Which class are you normally in?" she asked politely, tearing her eyes from the teacher.

"The one who's not here," I told her.

"Oh. Then we aren't together. Can I see your schedule?" she asked politely. I nodded and handed it to her. She read it and sighed.

"Nothing together. Not even lunch," she said. Then her eyes lit up.

"When do you work next?" she asked.

"Tonight. Why?" I asked.

"Darn. I don't work tonight. We'll have to see when our schedules align," Kathryn said before her eyes glued themselves back to the P.E. teacher. I nearly smacked my head. The girl couldn't be more obvious of her crush without shouting to the heavens that she was in love with the guy. He did look younger, like this was maybe his first or second year teaching, but he was still a teacher. I sensed that if Kathryn didn't pull herself together, she'd be involved in a scandal before the year was out.

Judging from the look he shot her, the feeling was close to mutual.

I didn't say anything though. Maybe it was normal to have a crush on your teacher? I mentally shrugged it off. I had stopped trying to figure out normal long ago.

"Okay. All P.E. classes are together. Go change!" the teacher ordered. Kathryn sighed and I followed her into the locker room. Since the girl P.E. teacher wasn't there, I couldn't get a locker today. I left my clothes in my backpack and followed Kathryn out.

The class had all five girls in it that had been dating Rumplestiltskin. I wasn't sure if they always were in the same class or not, but I couldn't get rid of the sense that something bad was going to happen today.

"Okay, we're playing volleyball today! I want…Milah, Ruby, Mary Margaret, Regina, Emma, and…you," the teacher pointed at me. I didn't even bother trying to give him my name, just stood and followed the other girls. Kathryn was placed on the other team. Ruby seemed to be good friends with the girl on the other side of the net and started talking to her as Regina prepped to serve.

"Guess what? I'm dating Rumplestiltskin!" she whispered excitedly. I heard Regina gasp and the ball flew at Ruby, nearly knocking her to the ground. Ruby spun around, glaring.

"Sorry. Must've slipped," she said, obviously not meaning it. Ruby shrugged and turned forward. She started to turn around once more when Regina served the ball at her head again. Ruby straightened up and stomped over.

"That was no accident!" Ruby said, shoving Regina.

"Rumplestiltskin is mine!" Regina shouted. This got the other girls' attention.

"I'm dating Rumplestiltskin," Emma said, pointing at herself. This got Milah's attention. She shoved Emma to the ground, placing her hands on her hips.

"No. I'm dating him!" she shrieked. This led to Regina lunging at Milah. Ruby mimicked the action, jumping in as well. Mary Margarent's eyes widened and she tried to break it up.

"Guys! No guy is worth fighting over!" she cried.

"Rumplestiltskin is MINE!" Ruby cried at that moment. Mary Margaret froze and picked up a volleyball, throwing it at Ruby. The other girls gaped at her.

"_I _am dating Rumplestiltskin," she announced. This began an all-out war. The girls started throwing balls at each other, hitting and pushing each other. I tried stopping them, but only ended up getting hit with balls myself. The coach stormed over, trying to break it up, but the girls were not relenting.

Regina shoved the volleyball cart at us, knocking us all over, including the teacher. I managed to grab his whistle and blew it.

"What the hell is your problem? This guy's cheating on all of you. You should be taking it out on him instead of beating the shit out of each other!" I shouted, irritated. The gym teacher struggled to his feet.

He blew the whistle, glaring down at all of us.

"DETENTION! All six of you! After school today in the library! Go change!" he ordered, eyes flashing. I jumped up, stomping to the locker room. Great. I would be really late to picking up Henry after school now.

I heard the girls mumbling behind me, but I didn't bother waiting.

Of course, life decided to be cruel to me. In the middle of second hour, I got a note from the office. At first I was terrified, thinking something was wrong with Henry. I was wrong.

Jefferson had called the school. The note said a man named Jefferson called the school looking for me and needed me to call him back. I used the note as an excuse to go to the office. In the office, Johanna was smiling sympathetically at me.

"I'm sorry to be in here so soon," I told her. Johanna shook her head.

"You can't control it. Do you need to call the man back?" Johanna asked. I shook my head.

"Did he mention a Grace being in trouble?" I asked. Johanna shook her head.

"Then I won't call him back. He knows better than to keep calling me. The only reason he has for calling us is if he needs money or if my niece is hurt. He would have mentioned my niece if that were the case. If he calls again, unless he mentions Grace, tell him to stop calling," I suggest. Johanna made a note of that on a sticky note and stuck it to the side of her computer.

"Duly noted. Now get back to class!" she said playfully. I smiled at her and nodded, turning around to head back to class.

The rest of class was a blur. Nothing really exciting happened. I was ahead of them from my last school, which would make this semester easier, I hoped. At the same time, it was boring.

The rest of my classes until lunch weren't that exciting. I started heading down to the cafeteria until I noticed Regina going there. And she looked like she was looking for someone. I frowned and turned around, heading for the library instead. I had homework I needed to do. And I didn't want to deal with the whole awkward finding a lunch table thing.

I found a table near the back of the library and sat down, starting on my homework. After awhile, I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up to see a boy with facial hair and a quizzical look on his face.

"You're kind of at my table," he said. I could detect an Irish accent to his voice. It sounded…nice. I started gathering my things.

"I'm sorry," I said. The boy shook his head, appearing startled, and sat down.

"Oh no. That's not what I meant. It's just…no one comes back here at lunchtime," he said. He held his hand out over the table.

"I'm Graham Humphrey," he introduced. I took his hand and shook it.

"Belle French," I told him. He flashed me a smile before it faded.

"Look, I haven't seen you before. You probably don't know about me," he said, glancing around. I tilted my head.

"I'm new. What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"You don't want to be seen with me. I'm gay. People only have to talk to me to be bullied as well. And I'm a foreigner," he told me, his voice low and flat.

"I don't care. You're the second person to even talk to me today," I told him. Graham stared at me for a moment.

"You don't mind that I'm gay? Or a foreigner?" he asked dumbly. I shook my head. Just like that, a smile lit up his face.

"I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't hate me for hearing that!" he exclaimed.

"We're going to be the best of friends!" he continued.

"We are?" I asked, confused. Graham nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course!" he said.

"I don't know how to be a friend. I've never had one," I said slowly. This stopped Graham's excitement. He analyzed me for a moment.

"You've never had a friend?" he asked.

"No. I'm never anywhere long enough," I told him. He shook his head.

"Well you have a friend now! What's your phone number?" he asked.

"I don't have a phone," I told him. He shook his head and started digging around in his backpack.

"That won't do. Here! This was supposed to be my new phone so that all of my new friends could have my number, but I don't have any. I still have my old phone and old number. Let me program my old number into it for you," he said. He started messing around and after a moment handed the phone to me.

"I can't take this," I said.

"Take it," he begged.

"Why?"

"Because you're the first person not to make fun of me all year. That's the nicest thing anyone's done for me. Let me do something nice for you," he begged. I sighed and took the phone. The bell rang just as I did.

"Good! I'll text you later!" he promised, running out of the library. A smile tugged itself onto my lips before I could stop it.

Yes. This town was going to be different.

My last class was Chemistry. Graham had been in my other two classes after lunch and had had an empty seat next to him. I sat next to him and listened to nearly nothing the teachers said as he explained everything about the school to me. He walked with me to Chemistry, stopping in the doorway.

"I've got to go. Text you later?" he told me before hightailing it down the hallway. Before I could react, I felt an arm snake around my shoulders.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he's gay. If you're looking for a real man, I'm right here," Rumplestiltskin whispered, running a hand down my arm. I pulled away from him, making sure I didn't look as shaky as I felt. I went up to the teacher and had him sign my slip before making my way to the only empty table in the room. Everyone else had a partner. I was glad I wasn't stuck with Rumplestiltskin.

This class was almost all experiments. I caught on to that quickly. I was horrible at scientific experiments. Luckily, while there was an explosion, it was not caused by me. Thank God.

It was, however, caused by Rumplestiltskin. His partner rushed out of the room, hands covering his eyebrows. Nice. Rumplestiltskin leaned against the table, eyeing the flames that came up from the beaker.

The teacher sighed and made his way over to Rumplestiltskin. The two talked quietly for the rest of the hour.

As soon as the bell rang, I made my way out of the room and down to the office. I turned in my slip to Johanna, who smiled at me once more.

"How was your first day?" she asked pleasantly. I sighed.

"I got detention for trying to break up a fight," I admitted. Her eyes widened.

"You poor dear!" she cried. I nodded. Then remembered something.

"Miss Johanna? My brother goes to kindergarten at the convent. I told them if anything happened to call here for me. If you get a call for me from them, will I get it?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I'll send someone to get you if anything happens. What's his name?" Johanna asked.

"His name's Henry," I told her proudly. Johanna smiled.

"If anything happens, I'll have someone come get you. I'll make sure they say that something's wrong with Henry at the convent. That way it won't embarrass you any," she said with a wink. I smiled and laughed lightly with her before signing the last of my papers.

Then, it was off to detention.

**What do you think? I hope you liked it. :) I enjoyed writing it. Now, I do want to say something about Graham. I don't know how it is at all schools, but I've been to a few schools where people will not speak to gay people. And I've met a lot of people who hate foreigners unless they are foreign exchange students. That is where I drew this from. Just wanted to clear that up before there was any questions. :)**

**Review? If I get a plethora of reviews, I'd be more tempted to update even faster... ;)**

**Andi**


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N. Sorry! I was going to make sure there wasn't a wait longer than a week, and I glanced at the last post date and it was eight days ago! Sorry! I'll try to update once a week until I finish pre-typing the fic. I hope you like this chapter! It's slightly longer than the last two! Review please! -Andi**

**Rumplestiltskin Must Die**

Chapter 3

I got to the library earlier than anyone else, so I asked the librarian for a phone book. I quickly found the number to the convent and called it using the cell phone Graham had given me.

"Sister Astrid speaking, how may I help you?" a voice said in a chipper tone. I nearly winced.

"Hi. This is Belle. I met you this morning?" I said quietly, hoping there wasn't more than one Astrid at the convent.

"Oh yes! I remember! What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm…detained. Stuff for first day of school. Is there any way you can let Henry know I will be there to pick him up, I'll just be…very late?" I asked awkwardly.

"Actually, I was needing to run into town and pick up a few things. I could probably bring him by for you, if you'd rather not walk all the way here," Astrid offered.

"That would be amazing," I breathed, barely believing what she was saying.

"It's no problem. He'll be there in about ten minutes. Where should I bring him?" she asked.

"I'll be in the library," I told her happily.

"Is there a number I can reach you by if needed?" Astrid asked.

"Yes. This is my new number," I told her.

"Okay. See you soon!" she said before hanging up. I handed the phone book back to the librarian.

"Who's in charge of detention?" I asked.

"A teacher is. It varies every day," she said.

"Will they mind if my brother comes in?" I asked, biting my lip.

"As long as he's quiet I don't see how they can say he can't. After all, they can't discriminate you for watching your _brother,_" she said with a wink. I nearly groaned. Great. She must've overheard the conversation and decided I was lying.

"There's some children books near the back, if you want to get some for him to look at," she told me. I nodded, grateful, and walked in the direction she had motioned towards. I was bent over, looking at some books and about to pull out a few I Spy books when I felt two hands on my butt.

"I love the view," a voice whispered in my ear. I straightened up quickly, only to find myself pressed firmly against a very male body. Rumplestiltskin's body, if I was to judge on the voice. I tried ignoring him and reached out, grabbing the first three books without comparing them like I'd originally planned on doing.

The moment I leant down, his hands snaked around my waist and pressed my bottom firmly against a very erect member of his body.

"A very delectable ass," he murmured. I tried pulling away from him but it didn't work.

"You might want to leave. Five of your so-called girlfriends are showing up for detention," I told him. He merely chuckled at me words, stepping even closer as I turned around.

"They've got another ten minutes to get here. They won't come early. And I already talked to them. It's all taken care of," he said, his lips moving closer to me as he did. His lips touched the skin on the side of my neck and I saw a burst of color. I leaned away from him.

"And your son won't be here for another five minutes at least. That's enough time for some fun," he promised. I tried pushing him away once more but his hands pinned my arms above my head.

I didn't like that. I hated the feeling of absolute loss of control. It caused me to panic. I reacted without thinking, my knee jerking up to hit him in the crotch. I wasn't able to hit very hard with how close his body was to mine, but I was able to bring my foot down hard on his as soon as my knee had connected with his groin.

It didn't bring him down, but it shocked him enough that I was able to pull away, dashing to the front of the library with the children books in hand. I sat down at the table in front of the library desk, where the librarian was packing up her stuff. She cast me an apologetic look.

"Rumplestiltskin, library's closed. Let's go," she called out. An irritated Rumplestiltskin limped from the stacks, looking rather peeved as he did. He shot me a dirty glare as he followed the librarian out.

Not five minutes later, Sister Astrid arrived with Henry's hand in hers. He was smiling but not very chatty. I was just glad he was smiling. It took a lot for him to adjust to new people. He hated getting close to people because he hated leaving them.

When Henry saw me, his eyes lit up. He dropped Sister Astrid's hand and took off running, throwing himself at me. I smiled up at Astrid.

"Thanks," I told her.

"No problem. See you tomorrow!" she said cheerfully before taking off. I hugged Henry back tightly, waiting for him to let go of me. He finally did.

"How was school?" I asked him, making sure my smile was as wide and genuine as I could make it. I led him back to our table and sat down.

"It was okay. I missed you! I liked the people," he told me.

"We've got to wait here and be quiet for awhile, okay? I got some books you can look through. You want to try to find things in the pictures. Do you think you can?" I asked him. Henry nodded up at me. I smiled and helped him into the seat.

"How sweet."

I glanced up to see Milah giving me a condescending look. I ignored her as the other four filed in, each glaring at each other. The teacher came in as well.

"No talking," he simply said, not even glancing at Henry. The moment he was gone, all of the girls turned to face each other.

"So I talked to Rumplestiltskin. He said he feels sorry for you," Regina said, flipping her scarf around. The other girls were giving her disbelieving looks.

"He said that we share something…special," Regina continued.

"And it hurts me to hear you question it?" Mary Margaret interrupted. All of their eyes widened on one another.

"Because you're the only one for me!" they shouted at each other.

"Damn it. He told us all the same thing," Emma cursed, hitting her fist against the table. I rolled my eyes at that.

Milah saw my eyes roll.

"Do you have something to say?" she scoffed. The others all turned their glares on me.

"He probably has pet names for you, doesn't he?" I asked them. The girls glanced at each other.

"He calls me dearie," Mary Margaret said. The other four looked appalled.

"That's what he calls me!" Ruby shrieked. It was obvious that that was his nickname for all of them.

"He does that so he doesn't get your names mixed up. It's not out of affection. And I'm sure he's always for an unspoken bond, but never something that other people can see," I stated, remembering all the stuff my father did.

"How did you know?" Mary Margaret asked as she gasped.

"Oh my God. You're dating Rumplestiltskin too," Emma deadpanned. I shook my head.

"No. I just know a guy like him," I said, thinking again of my father.

"If I were you, I'd…" I was cut off.

"We know, you'd break up with him. But he'd have a new girlfriend…no, a new five girlfriends…in minutes," Emma said impatiently.

"That's not what I was going to say. I'd get even," I told them. This was met with a moment of silence as the girls all stared at me, momentarily shocked.

"Who ARE you?" Milah asked, very confused.

"I know! You're that girl that wigged out last year and got sent to rehab!" Ruby said quickly. I shook my head.

"Fat camp?" Regina suggested. I glanced down at my body before shaking my head.

"My name's…" I was cut off by the teacher walking in the room. I didn't even open my mouth, just glued my eyes to my homework.

When detention let out an hour later, the teacher gave me a lecture on responsibility and taking better care of my children as the other girls left. I nodded with my head lowered and took it before replacing the library books and walking Henry to the store so I could buy him a winter coat.

As we were browsing through the coats, a little boy ran up to Henry, a huge smile beaming on his face.

"Hi Henry!" he said. Henry offered him a tentative smile.

"Hi Bae," he said back shyly.

"I wanted to come say hi. Dad said I could only say hi though. I'll see you tomorrow!" he said cheerfully before bounding back from the direction he came.

"Who was that?" I asked Henry, pulling a blue coat off the rack and slipping Henry's arms into it.

"That's Bae. He's cool. He played legos with me today," Henry said. I fought to keep the smile from my face. Legos was one of Henry's favorite things to play, especially since we didn't have any. We used to, but Father got mad one night because Henry left one on the floor and burnt them all. It had been traumatizing for Henry.

"What do you think of this one?" I asked, discreetly looking at the price tag. It seemed reasonable.

Unfortunately, I saw Henry do the same thing. He knew more about money at five than most fifteen year olds knew, and that upset me. He looked at the tag and scrunched his eyebrows together, thinking.

"Henry, it costs okay. It's whether you like it," I told him. He nodded slowly.

"I like it. It feels warm," he said. I nodded, knowing that would be the best I'd be able to get from him. We purchased the coat and headed home.

When we got to the house, I noticed father's car in the driveway. My heart sank with Henry's expression. I considered hiding the coat, but he was already standing on the porch. Waiting. I wrapped my arms tightly around Henry's shoulders.

"Children! Where have you been?" Father scolded, but it was light. His eyes weren't bloodshot. He wasn't drunk.

He probably had a girlfriend over.

A second later, a redhead joined him on the deck. Yeah. A girlfriend. She had cold, calculating eyes, and something about her seemed familiar.

"We were buying Henry a new winter coat, since he outgrew his last one," I told father calmly. Henry had never had a winter coat. But I knew better than to make father look bad in front of a girlfriend. We both did.

"I thought we were going to go tonight after supper to do that?" Father lied effortlessly.

"We were going to, but I got called in to work. Henry wanted to wear his new coat when he came with me, since he was going to see his new friends there," I lied back. Father nodded curtly at my effort. I had passed…this time.

"Children, I'd like you to meet my darling," Father said. The woman leaned back into his touch, but still looked cold.

"I'm Cora. It's nice to meet you!" she said, faking enthusiasm. I felt Henry recoil slightly into me. He didn't like her either.

"We just got finished with our date. She wanted to wait and meet you before leaving. I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked. She nodded and kissed him on the cheek before breezing past us. Once she was gone, Father's expression melted to a frown. He said nothing, merely pointed at the house. I handed the bag containing his coat to Henry and gave him a light nudge towards the stairs. He took off running.

"Where are you working?" Father asked, his tone diplomatically.

"At Granny's Diner," I answered without hesitation, my voice apathetic. He nodded.

"I have another date arriving in twenty minutes. If you'd been longer, you'd have been punished," he said, his tone matter of fact.

"Do you need supper first?" I asked. He paused in the doorway and shook his head.

"We're going out," he said simply.

I took that as a dismissal and climbed the stairs quickly.

Henry was already on our bed, pulling out papers from his backpack. There were a ton of drawings that I helped him put on the walls. He never wanted to keep drawings from previous houses, but I had a folder full of the best that I kept with me. After that, I helped him start his homework before beginning mine.

It wasn't long before we were called downstairs. Henry and I knew better than to keep our father waiting, so we took off running down the stairs. We stopped right in front of a woman with brownish-grey hair and a soft smile. A kind smile. So very unlike the first woman. Cora.

"You two are adorable!" she squealed, beaming down at us.

"These are my children," my father said, not even bothering to call us by name.

"My name's Cecilia Spinner. I hope I get to see you guys again soon!" she called as Father ushered her out the door. As soon as the car pulled out, I hurried Henry back upstairs.

"We need to be at the diner in ten minutes. Grab your homework!" I told him. Henry rushed to shove his papers into his backpack before flinging it onto his back. We took off sprinting down the road. We got to Granny's just in time. Granny offered me a slight frown and pointed at her watch. I nodded and helped Henry to the back booth.

The shift was great. I helped clean up after the diner closed. After a certain time, few people came in. Henry fell asleep while drawing, thank goodness. When I'd finished, I carried him and his stuff home without trying to wake him.

Father was still out when we got home. I brought Henry upstairs and laid him down. He needed a bath, but I wanted to have everything ready for bed first so he could fall back asleep easily. I repacked his backpack for tomorrow, checking for any papers that needed signed. The backpack and his new coat – sans tags – were placed next to the door alongside his shoes. I laid his clothes out for tomorrow as well.

I was glad I'd finished all of my homework at detention today. I didn't think I could've handled doing it at that time. I took a quick shower before waking Henry up and helping him to the bathtub. I stayed until I was sure he wouldn't fall asleep while finishing up.

When he was done, he crawled into bed and I turned off the light. Another first day of school. Another short night.

The next morning I woke up late. I threw Henry's clothes on him and tugged him out the door, grabbing a poptart for him to eat once he'd fully woken up. Of course, being late meant I had to run.

Running was difficult when I had to carry two backpacks (one being loaded down) and a five year old. When we got to the school, Henry was still sleepy, so I left him with a kiss on the forehead and the poptart in hand as I ushered him along to Sister Astrid, who took his hand and led him inside. I took off running again as soon as Henry was out of sight.

I managed to make it five minutes before classes were supposed to start. I stopped at my locker to deposit some books and get the correct ones when I realized there was someone standing in front of my locker. Five someones.

"Belle, right?" Regina asked, examining her fingernails.

"Yeah," I said, discreetly trying to reach around them to open my locker. They moved so I could.

"We need to talk to you," Emma said, flipping her hair.

"I have class," I told them, switching my books out.

"Not first hour. We talked to the teacher, said we were supposed to give you an orientation to help you adjust. They were fine with it," Ruby said with a quick laugh. My heart sank. I nodded and allowed Milah to slam my locker closed. I followed the five of them as Mary Margaret unlocked some lounge area. We all filed in before Mary Margaret locked the doors once more.

"He broke up with us!" Ruby said the moment the door was closed.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Rumplestiltskin. He broke up with all of us. He sent us all the same text," Milah said impatiently.

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked, confused.

"You're the one that started this. Tell us what to do!" Milah demanded.

"What to do?" I repeated dumbly. The five of them nodded.

"Yeah. You told us to get even. We have a whole new reason to get even now," Regina said. Emma nodded as well.

"How would you get even with him?" Emma asked. My mind flashed to Rumplestiltskin and how he kept touching me. How furious it made me.

"I'd show him how it feels. By making him go through it," I said. The girls were all nodding.

"One problem. How can we make him feel how we did? We can't cheat on him and keep it a secret. He broke up with all of us," Milah demanded, irate. Emma snapped her fingers.

"Not everyone," she said, her eyes locking on me. I shifted uncomfortably. Lucky for me, the bell chose that moment to ring.

"Look. I got to go," I said, heading for the door.

"Then we can discuss this more after school!" Regina said.

"I can't. I have to walk to the convent to pick up my brother," I said automatically.

"Your brother?" Emma asked skeptically. I nodded.

"I thought he was your son," Ruby said, frowning.

"No. He's my brother. But I'm more of a parent to him than our father is. I have to pick him up though. I was late yesterday and someone had to bring him to me," I said.

"I'll drive you there. Can we meet at your house?" Ruby asked.

"How do you know where I live?" I asked, confused.

"We all showed up at your house last night to ask for help, but you weren't there," Milah said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I was at work," I said slowly.

"Well can we?" Emma asked.

"If you wait til I get there to try the door. My father…doesn't like people," I said awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't be home then. Maybe I'd get lucky. And maybe pigs would start flying.

"Meet you at the front of the school then?" Ruby asked, and I nodded as I opened the door. I made it to second hour late.

At lunch, Graham was waiting for me at the table. He glanced both ways all sneaky-like before pulling a pizza from a bag. I stared blankly at him.

"How did you..?" I started to ask, but stopped.

"I have my ways. I can get past the whole no food in the library thing no problem," he boasted cryptically. I shook my head.

"I was going to ask how you fit a whole pizza in your backpack without it looking suspicious, but whatever," I said with a light laugh.

Why didn't you respond to my texts?" he asked, looking slightly worried.

"Texts?" I asked. Graham nodded.

"I sent you like ten texts," he said.

"I didn't notice. I'm sorry. I got home and we had to hurry to get to work on time," I said.

"We?" Graham questioned.

"Me and my little brother. I take care of him," I told him.

"Are you eighteen already?" he asked, curious.

"No. But my father's rarely home. When he is, it's never pretty," I said with a grimace. Graham winced as well, popping the pizza box open. It looked amazing. I hadn't had pizza from a restaurant since I worked at one four years ago. Graham took a piece and took a huge bite. I hesitantly grabbed a piece as well. I preferred eating my pizza from the crust up, but decided I'd bettered eat it normal.

"I live with a foster family. I understand the not pretty thing," Graham said as he shuddered.

"You live with a foster family?" I asked. Graham nodded and pulled up the bottom of his shirt, revealing a nasty fading bruise on his left side. Right next to a lovely six-pack.

"Yeah. My parents died while on a trip here fifteen years ago. Freak hunting accident. I lived with the wolves for four years before someone found me. I've been in the foster system since," he told me.

"My mom died five years ago. She made my father adopt my baby cousin before she died. Since then, we've moved a lot. We rarely stay somewhere longer than two months. He gets…abusive…whenever he's home without a girlfriend," I said awkwardly. It felt so…therapeutic to say that. Graham winced at my pain.

"When do you turn eighteen?" he asked.

"Beginning of January. You?" I asked.

"A week. But I have to stay with them until I find a place to stay," he said, scratching the back of his head as he did.

"Ugh. We should hurry up and eat. Lunch is almost done," Graham said, shoveling the last of his piece in his mouth. I hurriedly ate some pizza as well.

"And how exactly do you get pizza in the library?" I asked as I followed Graham in grabbing a second piece.

" I give the leftovers to the librarian. I think he likes me," Graham said with a wink. I glanced near the front and, sure enough, there was a second, male librarian. For some reason, he didn't look gay. He just looked hungry. I couldn't hold in the giggle that came from that realization. Graham let out an undignified huff as he crammed the last of his pizza into his mouth and made his way up to the front desk, half a pizza in hand.

Of course, the guy instantly perked up at the sight of the pizza. He even talked animatedly with Graham for a few minutes. I watched as Graham batted his eyes at the guy, which was the guy's cue to suddenly be interested in something else. I couldn't restrain my laughter as Graham came back, looking much too dignified to have just been rejected.

"He's coming around," Graham said as we gathered our stuff. As we headed for our next class, I noticed Rumplestiltskin, his eyes burning a hole into me. I barely bit back a groan.

"So what are you doing tonight? We should totally hang out!" Graham suggested.

"I'm apparently meeting up with five girls to discuss a plan to bring down Rumplestiltskin," I told him quietly as we entered the classroom and successfully avoided Rumplestiltskin.

"Say what? What girls?" Graham asked, intrigued.

"Regina Mills, Ruby Lucas, Mary Margaret Blanchard, Emma Swan, and Milah," I said. I couldn't for the life of me remember Milah's last name. Graham's eyes widened with each name.

"Wow," he breathed. I snorted.

"I know right?" I said.

"Call me when they leave. I want to meet this brother of yours," Graham said. Before I could decline, the bell rang. Saved by the bell. Again.

By the time Chemistry had rolled around, Graham had convinced me to let him come over. He bolted the moment I reached the door, something I didn't bother pointing out. He was scared of Rumplestiltskin. At least, he was scared of the confrontation. I had a feeling his foster parents didn't like calls from the school.

I started setting up the experiment that we'd been given the paper for yesterday. I had just finished everything when I heard shouting.

I turned and lo and behold, Rumplestiltskin and his table partner were shouting at each other. I couldn't quite hear the words, but the teacher was over in a flash to break them up. After a few minutes, the teacher, while facing Rumplestiltskin, pointed at me. My eyes went wide. No.

Rumplestiltskin sauntered over to me, a smug grin gracing his lips. Of course.

"Guess we're partners now," he said. I held back my shudder.

"How fortunate for you," I said breezily, moving away from him to pretend to read my directions. He moved right alongside me.

"What are we doing?" he asked, his breath tickling my ear.

"The scientific experiment. Move," I ordered. He moved slightly.

This was going to be a long year.

**I hope y'all liked it. A lot happened here, but I think it was good. I enjoyed rereading it before I posted it, at least. :) Let me know what you think.**

**(Unless you think it sucks. Then don't.)**

**(Just kidding. ;) )**

**(But really. Review.)**

**Andi ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I didn't have to wait long for Ruby. She was outside mere minutes after the bell rang. She didn't stop to acknowledge me, just whispered a quiet, 'come on,' under her breath. I followed her to her red car and climbed in quickly.

"Now where's the kid at?" Ruby asked as she started the car.

"The convent. It's about six miles into the woods," I told her. Ruby whistled.

"And you walk that every day?" she asked, incredulous. I nodded. She shook her head but said nothing more. The car ride to the convent was silent. When we got there, I leapt out and walked to the front doors.

Mother Superior was frowning at me. And at the car. But said nothing as she thrust Henry's hand into mine. Henry brightened up when he saw me and latched onto me. Rather than fighting him, I lifted him up and carried him to the car.

The downside to this whole arrangement was that I didn't have his car seat. The only one we had was always in Father's car, and we only used it whenever we were moving. He wouldn't even have that, had Father not overheard someone talking of the hefty fine for children not having a car seat. I took a few books from my backpack and sat them down on the seat as a makeshift carseat and sat Henry down on top of them before I buckled him up.

We drove back to my house in silence as well.

When we got there, I was able to sigh in relief. Father wasn't home. I gathered Henry and our stuff up and lead Ruby to the door. We weren't even to the door when the others all showed up. That was when I realized this wouldn't work.

"We have to hide your cars. If Father comes home and there are cars in the driveway, he'll be pissed," I said.

"Where should we park them then?" Milah asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"There's an alleyway around back. You guys can park there," I told them. They all reluctantly left to do that. I left the door partially open and headed inside. The others came back soon. I led us all up to my room.

"Can the kid go to his room?" Regina asked as we entered the room.

"Nope. Him and I share a room," I told them.

"Why?" Mary Margaret asked, eyes wide. I shrugged.

"Henry's scared of a lot of things. He'd rather sleep with me," I told them. Regina lost all color in her face. Her head whipped around to stare at Henry for a moment. She said nothing, but her eyes were wide.

I sat Henry down at the small desk and opened his backpack. I pulled out the homework and placed it in front of him. He smiled at me and started doing it dutifully.

"So what's the plan? How do we get revenge on Rumplestiltskin?" Milah asked impatiently. Emma smiled at her.

"Belle's going to make Rumplestiltskin fall in love with her. And cheat on him. With five other guys," Emma said.

"Wait…what?" I asked, confused.

"I like it. It's a good plan," Regina mused.

"No it's not," I interrupted.

"Come on. He broke our hearts, Belle. You said if you dated a guy like him, you'd get even. You're our only chance!" Ruby said, pouting.

"But I'm too busy for that! I'm raising Henry. I've got a job. I have to keep my grades up," I said. And keep my father happy. But that I wasn't going to mention that.

"We'll watch Henry while you're on dates. And help you with homework if you need it. Well…Mary Margaret will help you with homework if you need it," Emma amended.

"How do you know he'll fall for me? And wouldn't it be unfair to the five guys whose hearts I broke too?" I asked.

"He'll fall for you. Trust us. And we'll just set you up with five of the biggest heartbreakers in our school," Ruby said.

"Which are?" I prodded.

"David Nolan. He's the football captain. He thinks he runs the world. He's always cheating," Emma stated, lifting her nose in disdain.

"August Booth. The bastard feels up so many girls it's disgraceful. And he thinks he's the most attractive man on the planet," Regina said.

"Daniel Stable. He's the basketball captain. He's good friends with David. He seems like a good guy, but he's broken more hearts than anyone else, besides Rumplestiltskin of course," Ruby said.

"Archie Hopper. He's the valedictorian. He acts like he's better than anyone, especially his girlfriends. He thinks since he's so smart he deserves a few of them at a time," Milah said in disgust.

"And Killian Hook. He's a manwhore," Mary Margaret said simply.

"It sounds like you've planned this out already," I said, looking at the group of them. Henry turned around, eyes wide.

"Belle, what's a manwhore?" he asked. My eyes widened and I shook my head.

"It's a bad word, Henry. Don't say it. Ever. Please?" I asked him. Henry thought about it for a moment before smiling back at me and nodding. He returned to his homework.

"So will you do it?" Milah asked.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked sarcastically. When no one responded, I sighed.

"Fine," I said. They all squealed, but the moment they stopped, I heard a door slam. The blood drained from my face. Henry dropped his pencil as well.

"You guys need to hide. Now. Get in the closet," I said, shoving them towards the closet.

"What? Why?" Emma asked.

"Just do it. Please. Henry. Come on!" I told him as I heard another slam. Henry ran to the closet, climbing in with the girls.

"Don't come out until I come back," I warned, closing the door. I quickly ran down the stairs. When I entered the kitchen, I winced.

Father was drunk. And obviously hungry. It was only four, but when he was hungry, he expected food.

"Where's my food?" he shouted. I hurried to the freezer and pulled out one of the microwave dinners and popped it into the microwave. When I turned around, my face met his fist. I slammed into the counter. Father was chuckling.

"Turns out the two women I'm dating? They're both fucking lawyers. LAWYERS! Of all the fucking people to find, I find lawyers. At least they work at separate firms," Father mumbled angrily. I stood up. If I stayed down or slouched over, it only infuriated him more.

"And then that fucking bastard kept trying to call me!" Father said, as he threw a plate at the wall. I was glad it was only plastic. And that he wasn't throwing it at me.

That fucking bastard was what he called Jefferson. If Jefferson was calling Father, he was getting desperate. I didn't like that. I hated it when Jefferson called Father. It only made Father even more mad to receive calls from his crazy almost brother-in-law. The microwave beeped and I pulled the food out. I placed it on the table.

"Go to your fucking room," Father ordered as he sat down. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could and locked the door quickly behind me. Once I did that, I opened the closet door. Henry flew out at me, wrapping his arms around me. The girls climbed out as well. Mary Margaret gasped.

"What happened to your cheek?" she asked. I shrugged.

"Fell," I lied. It was an automatic response.

"My mom's a lawyer. You shouldn't have to live with someone who abuses you," Regina said, her eyes narrowed.

"Father's dating two lawyers right now. I don't think that'll help any. Plus I turn eighteen in a few weeks," I said.

"But what about Henry?" Ruby asked.

"He'll stay with me. Father never wanted him. Mom made him sign the adoption papers on her deathbed," I said, pulling Henry tighter to me.

"You guys need to stay maybe ten more minutes and then you can leave," I told them.

"Okay. Why don't we start discussing the plan?" Milah suggested, sitting once more on my bed.

"We need to get Rumplestiltskin to notice you," Regina said, thinking.

"He's already noticed me. Trust me," I said the last part under my breath.

"How so?" Emma asked quickly.

"Well, while you were all on your dates with him Saturday night, he had no problem trying to feel me up and all that," I told them. Each looked slightly insulted at that, especially considering they had been there with him, on dates no less, and he had acted more interested in me.

"And he assaulted me in the library," I added.

"Okay. I'm assuming you keep turning him down," Milah said.

"Yeah," I said, as if it weren't obvious.

"Well now you need to flirt a bit back. Keep playing hard to get though. It turns him on," Milah suggested.

"Let's pick out your outfit for tomorrow!" Mary Margaret suggested. The girls hopped back to my closet and started pulling out clothes. Before I knew it, a dress was lying on the bed. A very short dress. One that, I was sure, was actually a long shirt.

To make matters worse, they then decided to go through my underwear and pick out those too. They were disgusted with my lack of lingerie.

"Tell ya what. We'll bring you lingerie tomorrow and you can put it on after PE," Ruby said. She glanced once more in my underwear drawer before closing it.

"Can we leave now?" Emma asked. I peeked my head out the door and slowly made my way down the stairs. I could hear Father's snoring from the living room. I hurried back up the stairs.

"Sneak out the back door in the kitchen," I told them leading them to where they needed to leave from. They all left quickly. As soon as they did, I headed back upstairs to Henry and sent Graham a text like he wanted me to. He called me a moment later.

"Hey girl! What's your address?" he asked. I gave him the address.

"Park in the alleyway though. And you'll have to sneak in the back door. Father's passed out on the couch," I told him. He chuckled.

"Yours too? That's how I'm able to leave," he said with a low laugh.

"Have you ate anything yet?" Graham asked suddenly after a few seconds of quiet.

"No. And we didn't really get any real groceries here yet either," I said mournfully.

"Then we're going to Granny's. I'll come into the house first to get you guys," Graham said before hanging up.

It was literally two minutes before I heard the door downstairs creak. Henry jumped and I crept downstairs. When I saw Graham, I motioned for him to follow me. He did, and when we got to my room, he frowned.

"What happened to your face?" he asked. Then his face just smoothed out. He knew.

"We can't go to Granny's like that. I'll help you," Graham said, glancing around the room. He grabbed my makeup bag and made me sit down on my bed. He smiled over at Henry.

"Hey! My name's Graham," Graham told the boy. Henry nodded quickly, ducking his head.

"He's a bit shy. Henry, say hi. He's nice," I told Henry. Henry lifted his head and gave Graham a shy smile.

"Hi," he said. Graham started dabbing foundation on my face.

"I'm taking you guys to Granny's for dinner. What do you like to eat?" Graham asked the boy enthusiastically. Henry looked down at his homework.

"I like food," he said quietly.

"Me too," Graham said with a laugh as he rubbed the foundation on. He pulled out powder and dabbed it on my face.

"There. Done. Let's go!" Graham said, standing up. I glanced at my face in the mirror.

"Wow. You're good at that," I said. Graham shrugged.

"Years of practice," he said simply. I grabbed Henry's hand and we crept down the stairs. Graham followed us closely. We were able to sneak out and closed the door firmly. We took off running to Graham's car. It was a beat up second hand car, but it was better than I had. Graham opened the side door for me. I crawled in and smiled. He opened a back door and I was surprised to see a car seat in there already. I turned to him with questioning eyes and he shrugged.

"We had an old one from when my foster parents had children. They won't miss it," he promised. He helped strap Henry in and hopped in the front seat.

"You're perfect. You know that right?" I asked him teasingly. He shrugged.

"If only I weren't gay, I'd be every girl's dream," he said sarcastically. I playfully punched his arm and Henry giggled in the backseat. He pulled into the parking lot at Granny's and we got out. It wasn't overly busy inside. Ruby was behind the counter. We sat down at a table, Henry sitting down next to Graham. He was eyeing Graham curiously, as if he wasn't too sure of Graham yet.

Kathryn came over to take our orders. She kept shooting very indiscreet glances at Graham, as if questioning me what we were doing.

As soon as she was gone, Graham leaned closer.

"So what are you doing with those girls?" Graham asked.

"They're using me to get revenge on Rumplestiltskin," I told him. Graham waved his hand.

"I know that. You told me that much already. How?" he asked.

"Well, apparently I'm supposed to break his heart and cheat on him with five guys," I said, frustrated at the prospect. Graham whistled.

"Sounds like fun," he said sarcastically. I nodded.

"Oh yeah. You're telling me," I said, letting my head fall into my hands.

"On top of that, I've got a job, I'm raising Henry, trying to keep Father from getting angry, and now I'm juggling my not-quite Uncle," I said.

"Not quite uncle?" Graham asked, puzzled.

"His f-a-t-h-e-r," I spelled quickly. Graham's eyes widened.

"The man took his t-w-i-n but not him. We haven't seen her since, but he always shows up asking for money or something. And he's trying to get ahold of me now," I told him, frustrated with it all. Henry was staring at me, thinking. Trying to figure out the words I'd spelt.

"That's really kind of assholeish," Graham complained.

"Assholeish?" Henry asked.

"Another bad word, Henry," I told him sternly. Henry nodded, eyes wide. But I could see him mouthing the word to himself.

Great.

It was a nice night. We had fun and Henry warmed up to Graham. I could almost pretend I was out on a real date with a real guy, that I had no problems in the world.

When we got home, Henry's homework was finished and I did mine as he bathed.

It was a good night, despite my swollen face.

I hoped I'd be able to fix the makeup as good as Graham had in the morning.

**A.N. Well I posted it earlier due to all the reviews I've been getting! You guys are amazing, you know that? **

**I hope you like this! I also want to say that I have never been in a situation where I've been abused, nor have I known anyone who has, so I don't know if I portray it just right. **

**Well, tell me what you think! Thanks to all the people who reviewed! You guys brighten my day! **

**Andi**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I arrived at school the next day in the clothes the girls had picked out for me. While I was not partial to the outfit, the entire male population of the school was.

I had only just made it inside of the doors when I was cornered. The boy who cornered me had on black eyeliner and a predatory smile that told me he was trouble.

"The name's Hook. Killian Hook. Haven't seen you before. First day?" he asked, reaching out and twirling a strand of my hair.

"Third day, actually," I said drily. Killian Hook. That was one of the guys the girls wanted me to end up with.

"I must've been blind the first two days, because I don't see how I could have missed someone like you," he said without blinking an eye.

"Maybe," I said, making sure that I sounded distracted. Killian seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Would you like to go out with me? I have a boat. We could go out on it," he said. I held back laughter. A boat.

"Wow. Does that make you a captain?" I asked, fluttering my eyelashes at him. Score. He smiled before holding out a piece of paper and a pen to me.

"Give me your number. I'll send ya a text and we can set up a date," he said with a wink. I scrawled my new number onto the paper and placed it back in his hand before dodging underneath his arm. I was thankful I'd arrived to school early. Of course, being early wasn't going to save me at this rate.

"You shouldn't go out with Killian. He'll only hurt you," a voice said behind me. I turned to see a guy with red hair and glasses.

"Oh?" I asked, my eyebrow raising at him. He nodded.

"You should go out with someone like me. I'm a lot better for you," he said.

"And you are?" I asked.

"Archie Hopper. Class valedictorian," he said with pride. Of course he was. Of bloody course. He was another of the guys I was supposed to 'hook'. I mentally shuddered at the use of that word.

"And you're so concerned about my ability to handle myself with Killian?" I asked him, my hands automatically falling onto my hips in irritation.

"My conscience wouldn't allow me to not warn a girl such as yourself," Archie said, sounding so honest. Conscience? Who was this guy, jiminy cricket?

"I never agreed to go out with Killian. I only gave him my number," I told Archie. Archie's eyes widened and he quickly pulled his own small notebook from his back pocket and a pen from his shirt pocket. He thrust both at me.

I wrote down my number once more.

"Bettered make sure your text has your name in it," I told him as I breezed right past him.

Right in front of my locker was another boy. Great. This was already starting to drain me. How did Rumplestiltskin manage? How did anyone manage, for that matter?

"My name's David Nolan. I'm the football captain. We have Chemistry together?" David said. Oh. His eyebrows were almost gone. One of my own eyebrows lifted in question and he flushed.

"I do seem to recall that. You're with Rumplestiltskin, yes?" I asked. At the mention of Rumplestiltskin, David's face darkened.

"He hasn't laid claim to you yet, has he?" David asked quickly. Laid claim? What kind of a barbaric place was this?

"No one lays claim to me but me," I said, furious. This calmed David down real quick.

"Good. Rumplestiltskin always tries to claim the best," he said. Again with the flirting. I tugged the dress down slightly, but it didn't help any.

"So you think I'm the best?" I said, allowing my eyelashes to flutter once more.

"Obviously," he breathed. Is that all it took to get guys' attention? Wear a short, tight dress?

I was glad I'd never worn a dress like this before. I didn't like this attention.

"Well, I don't know. A lot of guys have been asking for my number today. I still haven't decided who I like best. I guess I'll have to wait and see which guys text me like they say they will," I said, sighing almost dejectedly as I did.

All of those acting classes my mom put me through when I was younger was finally starting to pay off. Although I doubted she would have been proud to see the way I was using the lessons. Or the boys.

"May I have the pleasure of getting your number as well?" he asked politely.

"Well…aren't you a prince charming?" I asked sarcastically. He gave me a grin.

"I try," he said before pulling his backpack off. He pulled out a random notebook – coincidentally, it read Chemistry on the front – and flipped to an empty page, handing it to me before he dug out a pen. I took the proffered pen and scribbled my number down just as I had before.

Now, I really needed to get to class. This was almost ridiculous. I never wanted to wear this outfit again.

"You look gorgeous."

I turned around, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose. Another? This had bettered be the last of the five I had to encounter before class. I turned around.

"Where I come from, it's considered proper etiquette to introduce yourself before making such comments," I told him, frustrated. The boy's eyes widened and he nearly laughed.

"My apologies, my dear lady. My name is Daniel Stable, and I am your most humble servant," he said, mock bowing. This brought a grin to my face despite everything.

"Yes. You are most humble," I told him, holding back my laugher.

"Would my lady grace me with her phone number so I might have a chance of a date with you? I watched you give your number to Nolan," Daniel said with a grin.

"I am a sucker for a guy who treats me like a queen," I told him as he pulled his phone from his pocket. I added my contact information to his phone before handing it back to him. He gave me a lopsided smile.

"I really must get going. I'm late to class," he said sheepishly before taking off running down the hallways. I did laugh out loud that time. I hurriedly tried to make it to class without being stopped once more. However, I was cornered right as I was about to enter the locker room.

"Hey. I was talking to Emma this morning and she mentioned you. She was right," the boy said, scanning me.

"Oh?" I asked. Emma. Maybe this was August? He was the only one to not corner me yet.

"Oh indeed," he said cryptically.

"Are you going to tell me what she said that she's right about?" I asked, feeling my curiosity brimming.

"I'll tell you via text," he said with a wink.

"And how do I know you will tell the truth?" I demanded.

"Because I never lie," he told me.

"I think your nose just grew a bit, Pinocchio," I teased.

"It's true. Give me your number and I'll text you after school," he swore, offering his phone to me. I sighed and programmed my number in.

"There," I said. He gave me one last smile before he was gone.

When I entered the locker room, I was cornered once more, this time by the girls.

"So? Did you get any reactions?" Regina demanded.

"Oh I got reactions. And gave away my cell number to five certain boys," I told them. Ruby squealed at my words, bouncing up and down.

"Yes!" she cried.

"We need to give them code names. So they don't know we're talking about them," Mary Margaret said strategically. I tilted my head sideways.

"Killian's is Captain, Archie's is Cricket, David's is Charming, Daniel's is Servant, and August's is Pinocchio," I said. They stared.

"It fits with the conversations I've had. Trust me," I told them, not wanting to explain it all.

"Well…that was relatively easy," Mary Margaret said. I nodded.

"Henry is in a stage where he pretends he's on secret missions all the time and asks for help coming up with codenames. You learn real quick to be observant and catch names he'd approve. Can I get dressed for P.E. now? I'm tired already," I complained. When I got no one offering a reason as to why not, I started doing so anyway.

The morning was a nightmare. Every guy kept asking for my number. After P.E., the girls told me that I should give fake numbers to other guys. And that I needed to tell my guys that my father said I couldn't date. So I gave out fake numbers.

I continually saw Rumplestiltskin but he was always skulking around, watching me. When lunch came around, I got to the library before Graham. I sat my stuff down and noticed how early I was.

Early enough to maybe check out a book.

And I had a book I really wanted to read. I stood and started looking. After a moment of trying to figure out where it should be, I headed down an aisle. The book was on the top shelf. Of course. I stretched out until I could reach the top shelf. I still couldn't reach the top of the book. I gripped the bottom of the shelf and stretched.

My fingers had just brushed the top of the book when I felt someone behind me. I jumped and the book fell. It hit my arm before splaying open on the ground. Damaging the spine. I winced. Two hands steadied me. Steadied me by gripping my bare skin.

"Careful there," Rumplestiltskin's voice whispered in my ear.

"Get your hands off me," I said, keeping my voice calm. The hands didn't move.

"You can't expect me to keep my hands to myself when your dress rides up that much," he said, his hands sliding around to the front of my thighs. I tried to ignore him and bent over, picking up my book. He moved himself forward, closer to me.

"Anna Dressed in Blood?" Rumplestiltskin asked in disbelief, reading the cover of the book.

"You got a problem with it?" I asked.

"Nope. Your skin is soft," Rumplestiltskin said, his hands moving around as he buried his face into my hair.

"Stop molesting me?" I asked. I could feel Rumplestiltskin's chuckles vibrate in his chest. His fingers brushed against my underwear.

"Did you wear these just for me?" he murmured.

"Full of yourself much?" I retorted. I heard someone clearing their throat. I glanced over my shoulder. Graham. Looking very awkward. Rumplestiltskin spun us around.

"Would you mind putting her dress back in place and getting your hands off her underwear?" Graham asked sarcastically. Graham took a step closer. Rumplestiltskin chuckled once more.

"Her dress can be in place on the ground, along with her underwear. Move along, Wolf Boy," Rumplestiltskin said, waving his hand absently before it glued itself back to my underwear. My skin felt electric underneath his fingertips, as if he were shocking me.

"You aren't going to touch her," Graham said menacingly, taking a step closer.

"What? Did she turn you straight? Too bad. She's mine," Rumplestiltskin growled, his fingers inching under my underwear. I shoved him back and pulled my dress down. I didn't care if I was supposed to be winning him over. I was not some prize to be claimed, and I did NOT want to be seen as such.

Nor did I want someone trying to molest me in the middle of the school library.

"I am no one's. No one decides my fate but me," I said angrily. Rumplestiltskin threw his hands up in defense.

"You didn't seem to be stopping me. And now I've got a…large...problem that needs taken care of. Since you are the one who caused my problem, you should be the one to fix it," Rumplestiltskin said, shooting me a feral grin.

"I could fix the problem for you," Graham said with a grin. Rumplestiltskin appeared highly disgusted. Graham grabbed my arm gently.

"There. Problem solved. If that doesn't deflate it, nothing will," Graham said, tugging me back. His sudden pull made me drop the book onto the floor next to Rumplestiltskin. But I really didn't want to go back and get it now. And Graham's grip was like iron.

I allowed Graham to tug me back to the table. When we got there, he pulled out a small planner.

"I got this for you. I figured you'd need something to keep up with all the dates and all that stuff," Graham said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head as he thrust it at me. I took it from him, touched.

"Thanks," I said. I flipped through it, noticing that it had Graham's birthday written in for me. I couldn't help but smile at that.

"And thanks for saving me," I told him.

"It's no problem," he said. He pulled out Chinese from his backpack.

"Are you serious?" I asked, staring at him. He shrugged and handed me a box. He placed one in front of himself, and a third in the middle of the table.

"Let's eat. We don't have much time now, after Rumplestiltskin's fiasco," Graham said in disdain.

We started eating.

"Has Jefferson bothered you anymore?" Graham asked as he shoveled orange chicken into his mouth.

"No. He hasn't yet today. That either means he's given up or he's planning something," I said uneasily.

"Don't worry about it. Focus on now," Graham advised as we finished food and discreetly trashed the food containers.

I was not looking forward to Chemistry class. In fact, I knew it was going to be miserable. I entered the class with my head down. Rumplestiltskin was already there, and…setting up our lab?

I glanced up, shocked. He hadn't seemed like the kind of person to be helpful in lab. Especially not after earlier.

The book I'd had earlier was lying on my barstool.

"It does sound like a good book, actually. Weird genre, but good," Rumplestiltskin said as he continued setting things up. I swallowed a lump that was growing in my throat and placed the book in my backpack.

"Thanks," I said. He nodded. He stopped a moment later and turned to me.

"Look, I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't realize how strong I was coming on…it's just…that dress. And you're so beautiful. And….God….I thought you were just playing hard to get," Rumplestiltskin rambled. I stared at him.

He drew in a shaky breath.

"Would you like to go out with me?" he finally asked. Wow. This was…almost ridiculous. I sighed and shrugged.

"Send me a text I guess," I said, taking a pen out. I looked around for a piece of paper and saw none. Rumplestiltskin held out his hand and motioned for me to write my number on his arm. I tentatively wrote it on the underside of his wrist. I had only just gotten it done when a student burst into the room. The girl's eyes found mine and she hurried over to me.

"Johanna sent me to tell you that the convent called. Henry's hurt," the girl said. My face lost color. I quickly grabbed my backpack and took off running out of the room, ignoring both Rumplestiltskin's cries and the teacher's protests.

I made it to the office quickly. The moment I entered, Johanna stood. Her face was etched with worry.

"A Sister Astrid called. She said Henry was playing with the others when he just collapsed. He was coming to, but seemed very shaky," Johanna explained.

"I have to go!" I said quickly.

"Honey, do you have someone who can drive you there?" Johanna asked. I started to think of where Graham was at this hour when someone interrupted my thoughts.

"I can take her."

**What do you think? I thought of pacing the meeting the boys out over the day, but that involved a lot of careful thought and more writing. Plus, considering the personalities of the guys, I feel that they wouldn't have sat around and waited for other guys to pursue someone they found attractive. They would have to be the first ones to talk to her.**

**And what did you think of Rumplestiltskin? I enjoyed writing his part. I feel that it fits him perfectly. Because despite his playboy attitude, he doesn't actually physically hurt anyone. Anything he does has complete consent. So the thought that what he was doing wasn't pleasant for her kind of shook him.**

**And what do you think happened to Henry? What's Jefferson planning? Who volunteered to drive her? ;)**

**Andi**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Standing in the doorway was Graham. Behind him was Rumplestiltskin.

"Both of you don't need to take her," Johanna said, placing a hand on her hip.

"I'm her friend," Graham said, glaring at Rumplestiltskin.

"I'm her boyfriend," Rumplestiltskin retorted. Boyfriend? He asked me on a date. One date.

"We can take my car. I have a car seat for Henry," Graham said. Rumplestiltskin's jaw tightened as Graham led me to his car. And he followed.

"What are you doing?" Graham demanded.

"I'm coming with you," Rumplestiltskin said, climbing into the backseat. Graham's jaw tightened but he just clenched his fists and got in the car. I climbed in as well.

Graham peeled out of the parking lot, driving quickly through the woods and to the school. We got there in a matter of minutes. I was thankful someone was giving me a ride. I didn't want Henry to have to wait when he felt so horrible. As we pulled up to the school, my heart sank.

Jefferson was standing outside of the school. I sank into my seat. Not now.

"Is that Jefferson?" Graham asked as he parked the car. I nodded and got out of the car. Graham stalked over to Jefferson and before I could react, Graham had punched Jefferson hard in the face. Jefferson stumbled but straightened himself. He looked highly irritated until he saw me. Then his eyes widened and he looked relieved.

"Jefferson, I don't have any money you can borrow," I said quickly. Jefferson shook his head.

"I don't need money. My company finally took off. I've got the money I borrowed from you here. I need your help with something else," he said, glancing around.

"I need to get to Henry," I mumbled, trying to shove past him. He grabbed my arms tightly.

"Henry's fine. Grace isn't," Jefferson said. I stopped in my tracks.

"You haven't let us see Grace. Ever. Why should I believe you?" I spat at him. Jefferson gestured to the car.

"She's in there. Someone's after her. I'm leaving her with you," Jefferson said.

"You can't! No one's after her," I retorted. Jefferson was known for being a bit…crazy. He raved for months about how he lost all of his money in Wonderland.

"I can't afford to raise her and Henry!" I protested when Jefferson said nothing. He held out a bulging envelope. When I didn't reach for it, he tucked it into my pocket.

"There. Now you can," he said. He turned and dashed for his car, pulling Grace out and her car seat in one go. He thrust Grace at me, who looked completely and utterly lost. He dropped the car seat on the ground and dashed for the car.

"Her stuff's in boxes outside your house. I just registered her for school. Important documents are in a firesafe box. Bye!" Jefferson called as he hopped in his car and peeled out. My eyes were wide.

"Papa?" Grace asked quietly. I pulled Grace closer to me and glanced at Graham.

"Can you move the car seat to the car?" I asked him quietly.

"You aren't going to actually…" Graham drifted off and shook his head. I ran my fingers through Grace's hair as she started sniffling.

"We need to see if Henry's okay," I said as soon as Graham came back. We entered the school, where Astrid was waiting on us. She smiled, relieved, when she saw us.

"We've been waiting for you. Henry's been calling out," Astrid said. She glanced at Grace in my arms.

"You didn't tell us you had two," Astrid said.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

"That man registered her for school here too. Said she was Henry's twin," Astrid said. I sighed.

"What's Henry calling out for?" I asked, following Astrid into what I assumed was the infirmary.

"MAMA!" Henry was shouting, sounding almost feeble. My heart sank. Oh. When Henry saw me, he reached his arms up. I hurried to him, struggling but managing to pick him up.

"What was he doing when he collapsed?" I asked Mother Superior. She was glaring at me. Glaring at the two children in my arms. Of course. I was really starting to hate her. She was the most hateful nun I'd ever met.

"He was running around with his friend," Mother Superior said. I nodded. Henry had collapsed once in the last town we'd been in, but we figured he'd only fainted. Twice? That was too coincidental to be a coincidence.

"May I take him home for the day then?" I asked her politely. She nodded.

"Please do. Will your…other child…be starting tomorrow?" Mother Superior asked disdainfully.

"Grace and Henry will be at school tomorrow, bright and early," I promised her, frustrated. She nodded and Sister Astrid handed Henry's backpack to Graham for me. The three of us made our way out of the convent and to the car.

"You said you've never seen her before. Did he really just leave her here with you?" Graham asked in disbelief. I nodded.

"I think I need to talk to her. And to Henry. We never told him he had a sister," I said, biting my lip.

"Would someone care to explain what's going on?" Rumplestiltskin asked sarcastically. I ignored him.

"Graham, I'll sit in the back. I'm supposed to be at work at four, so I need to start explaining things to them," I told Graham quietly as I buckled Henry up in his car seat.

"We can go to your house first and move Grace's stuff in. I doubt your father will take kindly to seeing another child," Graham said grimly. I nodded.

"I'll have to keep her hidden for awhile. He's not in the mood right now," I told him truthfully.

"Are you going to save the money for when you turn eighteen?" Graham asked. I nodded.

"I have to," I told him truthfully. I crawled over Grace's empty car seat and sat down before buckling Grace up as well. Graham and Rumplestiltskin got in the front of the car.

"Who are you?" Grace asked as the car started moving. It broke my heart.

"My name's Belle. I'm your aunt," I told her softly. Her face fell.

"I was hoping you were my mom," she said sadly as fat tears started to form. I looked up at Graham in horror.

"I can be your mom, if you want me to be," I amended quickly. Grace's smile came back, but she still looked sad.

"When's Daddy coming back?" she asked. I shook my head.

"I have no clue, darling. But guess what?" I said, trying to make my voice sound excited.

"This is your brother. His name's Henry," I said, leaning back so the two could eye each other.

"How old are you?" Henry asked her curiously.

"Four. You?" Grace responded. Henry's eyes widened.

"I'm four too! When's your birthday?" Henry asked excitedly.

"December 21st ," Grace responded.

"That's mine!" Henry responded, his eyes alight.

"That's because you two are twins!" I told them.

"Did you live with our real mom and dad?" Henry asked her. Grace bit her lip.

"I live with Daddy. I don't have a mommy," Grace said. Graham pulled up outside the house and opened the door, helping Henry out. I climbed out after him. There were a few boxes sitting on the front porch. I sighed. I picked up both children and Graham and Rumplestiltskin both grabbed boxes. I led them upstairs to our room.

"Place them in here. We'll go through them later," I said. Rumplestiltskin looked around the room curiously.

"Is this your room? Or Henry's?" he asked.

"It's both of ours. Now Grace's as well," I said. Grace's head shot up.

"I don't have to sleep alone in the dark do I?" she asked fearfully.

"Nope! Belle sleeps with us!" Henry said happily.

"That's a twin sized bed," Rumplestiltskin observed, staring at the bed.

"It fits us," I retorted, feeling my cheeks flame.

"Were there any more boxes?" I asked. Graham shook his head. I lowered Grace to the floor and slipped my hand in hers.

"Want a tour of your new home?" I asked her. Grace nodded timidly.

"This is our bathroom," I told her, pointing at the small room. We went down the stairs.

"This is the kitchen. That's the living room. And that is my father's bedroom and bathroom. Don't go near those. Father's not very nice," I warned her. Henry nodded solemnly.

"He'll hurt you if he thinks you so much as looked at his stuff," Henry warned her.

"You'll be with me all the time, unless you're at school. I'll never leave you here with him," I told her. I ran my money back upstairs and hid it before we left.

"I'll drop you off at the diner. Need a ride to school?" Graham offered Rumplestiltskin stiffly. Rumplestiltskin was equally stiff as he accepted. Graham stopped at the diner and helped me get out.

"If you need a ride to the convent tomorrow, let me know. We'll just leave her car seat in here for now," Graham suggested. I nodded, relieved.

It was, thankfully, much too early for many people to be at Granny's. I led Grace to the booth and sat Henry down at it, pulling out his homework for him. Not that he'd do much of it. On top of not feeling well, he had a new sister to get to know. I also pulled some crayons and blank sheets of paper out for Grace to color on before going up to Granny. She looked very intrigued at the extra child.

"Who's that?" Granny asked as I tied my apron on.

"That's my niece. I guess. Henry's twin sister. Her father dumped her out on the doorstep today for me to take care of. It's not a hassle, is it?" I asked anxiously. Granny shook her head but looked rather concerned.

"So you're now raising two four year olds?" she questioned. I nodded just as Ruby entered. Granny muttered under her breath before walking away.

"Hey. We looked for you after school but couldn't find you. And you didn't answer your phone. And Rumplestiltskin was missing. What happened?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"My brother passed out at school. Graham and Rumplestiltskin fought over who would take me there, and Graham drove us both there," I summarized.

"Wow. Wait. How did you get his attention?" Ruby questioned suspiciously. So I had to recant the story of how he molested me at lunch and then asked me out in Chemistry. Ruby was squealing by the end.

"I'll tell the others later! Hey…who's the girl with Henry?" Ruby asked, staring at the booth where the children were at. Grace had left her side of the table and was sitting next to Henry now, the two of them chatting like long-lost friends. I guess, in a way, they sort of were.

"That's his twin sister. Her father dumped her out at the convent while I was trying to pick up Henry," I said almost bitterly.

"You've got two kids now?" Ruby asked in disbelief. I nodded, irritated. Then noticed the time.

"Granny, can I leave at seven? I need to get home to make supper for my father," I told her. Granny nodded as she walked towards Henry and Grace, a plate of food in one hand and two drinks balanced in the other. I shook my head at her. Of course she was already feeding the children. I was just glad she thought to only give them one plate of food.

Which reminded me. I had no clue what Grace liked to eat. I probably needed to figure that out.

The time flew by, and soon enough I had to run home with the children. Father's car was in the driveway, so I snuck around back and had Grace help Henry upstairs. Henry knew to hide in the closet, and I knew he'd have Grace hide with him.

They had only just made it to the room when Father appeared in the kitchen, drunk and fuming.

"Where's my food?" he shouted. I hurriedly put the microwave dinner in the microwave, but I'd only just gotten the time started when Father grabbed my arm. He pulled me up by the arm.

"You're late. I only ask one thing of you, and you can't even do it," he said, furious. He squeezed my arm tighter as I was suspended in the arm.

"And you covered up your bruise. I guess I'll have to give you another to match it," he said, grinning evilly. He hauled back and punched the other side of my face. The force pushed me back and it sounded like something in my arm snapped. The microwave beeped, drawing his attention from me. He dropped me to the floor and I scurried upstairs as fast as I could.

My arm was on fire. So was my face. I got to the room and quickly grabbed a spare set of my clothes and Henry's clothes. I grabbed one of my shirts to slip Grace in as well and pulled them out of the closet and into the bathroom, locking the door behind us.

While Henry bathed, I washed the makeup off my face and tried to wrap my arm up. It didn't work. While it wasn't at any odd angles, it was quite swollen and I could see a bruise forming where his hand had been. My face was also looking quite pretty on the newly bruised side.

After Henry got out, I sent Grace through the bath. I dried Henry off and dressed him while Grace washed up, then dried her and put my shirt on her.

I couldn't get my shirt off. That was my first realization. I ended up having Grace and Henry help tug it off of me, as well as my pants. I had Henry turn around as Grace helped me remove my bra and underwear.

Showering was almost as painful. Every movement jarred my arm, and I realized early on that it had been my left hand. The hand I wrote with. Of course.

When I got out, I discovered there was no way I'd be able to dress alone as well. I settled the others into bed before calling Graham to come over, all the while still wrapped haphazardly in a towel.

He got there in fifteen minutes, and that time included sneaking past my father and up the stairs. He locked the door behind him and whistled when he saw me.

"Dear Lord, I see why you need help," he said. I pointed at the boxes.

"Can you find the box with her clothes in it and lay out clothes for her for tomorrow while I get Henry's?" I asked him. He nodded while I started rummaging carefully for Henry's clothes.

"Henry, did you finish your homework?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Do you have a backpack, Grace?" I asked her.

"Found it," Graham said before she could respond, holding it up. We placed the backpacks and shoes against the wall with their clothes for tomorrow.

"What about you?" Graham asked. I winced.

"Can you find me whatever clothes will hide this?" I asked, pointing to my arm. Graham nodded and pulled out a sweater from my drawer and a pair of jeans. He also found underwear and a bra, much to my embarrassment.

"I take it you can't get dressed," Graham said. I nodded grimly.

"I'll fake you a note. Is it your writing arm?" Graham asked. I nodded once more and Graham winced.

"I'll fake it fast and then help you with homework. I'll be back in the morning and help you dress. What do you want to wear to bed?" he asked.

"Underwear would be nice. I think I have a gown as well in the third drawer," I mentioned. Graham rifled through the drawers and brought the stated articles of clothing out. He bent down and held the underwear out.

"Step into them," he said, turning his head the other way. I was touched. He was being so helpful. It made me want to cry. Once he'd helped get my underwear on, he gently tugged my nightgown on.

"Second time in one day I see your underwear. If I was straight, you would have made my life," he told me with a wink.

We settled in to do homework. Once it was done, Graham snuck out.

The next morning, he was there bright and early. He helped not only me get dressed, but Henry and Grace as well. He spent a lot of time working on my makeup, and even then it looked nothing as good as it had before. The bruises were much more pronounced now.

When he finally deemed me ready to go, the note he forged placed gently in my bad hand, he escorted us out to the car.

"Where are we?" Grace asked curiously as Graham buckled her and Henry up for me.

"Storybrooke, Maine. We're near the ocean. I'll take you to see it someday," Graham promised her with a smile.

"I like you," Grace said decisively. Grace turned her head to look at me. Graham buckled me up before getting in the car as well.

"Did you mean it when you said you could be my mommy?" Grace asked her.

"That's weird. She's my sister. And you're my sister," Henry said, scrunching up his nose.

"She can be your mommy too!" Grace suggested, looking very pleased with herself.

"Belle's my sister," Henry said decisively. Grace sighed and nodded.

"Okay," she said. The rest of the ride was silent. When we pulled up to the school, Graham hopped out and let the kids out.

"I'm supposed to be home immediately after school today, so I can't give you a ride home," Graham said apologetically. I nodded.

"Children, I'll be a bit late getting here today, okay?" I told them. Henry nodded, understanding, and Grace mimicked him.

"Did you answer any texts before I got to your house?" Graham asked. I winced. I hadn't even looked at it. Graham drove us quickly to the school and parked, holding his hand out. I handed him both the planner and my phone.

"You said to text them that your father won't let you date, but you can secretly go out with them if they don't tell anyone. And set up a date?" Graham asked. I nodded. Graham started typing on my phone. After a few minutes, he nodded.

"You've got three dates tonight and two dates tomorrow. They'll confirm it. I penciled it in for you," Graham said, tucking the phone and planner back into my bag.

After he helped me out of the car, we went our separate ways.

The text messages were affective. I kept getting furtive glances, but none of the guys came up and talked to me. I was thankful. My arm throbbed more and more as the day went on. At one point, I was pretty sure the girls wanted to talk to me but I ran the other way. I'd have to talk to them tonight anyway.

By the time Chemistry came around, I was dying. My right arm was aching from carrying my books and attempting to scrawl answers on a paper. I doubted it was legible. I couldn't even remember what Graham and I had talked about at lunch or in the previous classes.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," Graham said as he left me in the doorway. I made my way to my seat and sat, wincing as I did.

"What happened to you?" Rumplestiltskin asked as he sat on his own barstool. His eyes were observing me carefully.

"Why do you ask?" I shot back.

"Your arm's at a funny angle. Your arms always dangle," he noted.

"And you know this from the what, five days I've been here? I don't think it's even been that long," I shot back. I wished I could remember an exact day, but I was doing good to remember how to talk. The pain was excruciating.

"You're nearly delirious from pain. You broke it. How? And when? It was fine when we left you last night," Rumplestiltskin accused.

"I fell at the diner," I lied. He shook his head but, thankfully, didn't call me out on my lie.

"I can fix it for you. I know a few doctors," Rumplestiltskin offered. I shook my head.

"No. It's fine," I told him automatically. Doctors meant money. I couldn't afford to spend the money on me, not with the two children to take care of.

Class passed by slowly. When it finally, finally came to an end, I hurried out of there. Rumplestiltskin, however, didn't like being rejected.

"Let me at least give you a ride to the convent," Rumplestiltskin offered but I shook my head.

Right now I could care less about the girls' plans for revenge. I just wanted to get as far away from him as I could.

I started walking away from the school, flat out ignoring him.

What I hadn't been expecting was for him to start following me in the car.

"Come on! Just get in the car," Rumplestiltskin said, exasperated. I continued to ignore him, finally arriving at the school. Henry and Grace came running up to meet me as I approached, Mother Superior glaring frostily at me. Sister Astrid waved at us before hurrying back inside. Mother Superior approached us.

"I would appreciate it if you could pick up your children on time. We don't run a day care," Mother Superior bit out.

"I'm sorry. I'll skip school so I can be here when it pleases you," I shot back. I turned before she could respond. We began walking home.

Ignoring Rumplestiltskin the entire time.

**1234567890-098765321234567898765421**

**What do you think? This was a pretty intense chapter, I know. Moe's...well, an ass. That's about all I can think of to describe him. And he's only worse when he's drunk. **

**Jefferson's flighty. Yes. I did that. And Grace is now in the story. What do you think of that? Poor Grace!**

**And I bet Rumplestiltskin's really confused about Belle now, after hearing all that! Let me know what you think!**

**Andi**


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: I am doing NaNoWriMo this month so I won't be writing anything new. However, I do have a few chapters already written so I'll continue posting them, but just be forewarned.**

Chapter 7

When we got back to the house, the girls were already waiting. Their cars weren't in the driveway – they knew better, it seemed – but the door mat was skewed. Even Father never messed with the doormat, whereas Belle had informed the girls that there was a hideout key under there.

The children were exhausted. And freezing. We got in the room and I sat them down at the kitchen table and told them to start homework. I turned on the stove as well to generate heat.

"You're home!" Ruby exclaimed happily. The other girls appeared in the kitchen as well.

"We're home," I said without emotion.

"Kids, why don't you run upstairs and start on your homework for me?" I asked. The two nodded but Henry gave me a tight hug before running upstairs. I was so proud of them in that moment. Even though I'd told them to start down here, they easily adapted and did as I told them.

"What happened to your arm?" Mary Margaret asked in concern.

"It's fine," I said shortly. Milah bumped into me, into the arm, causing a sharp cry to break from my lips before I could stop it.

"Fine?" Milah scoffed.

"My Mom's a doctor. She can fix it for you," Mary Margaret offered.

"I thought I had three dates tonight," I pointed out, knowing that was the reason they were here.

"You do. MM's mom can fix your arm up after the date," Emma pointed out.

"Gee, thanks guys for your concern," I said sarcastically. They ignored me.

"I brought you an outfit for your dates tonight. Considering your…arm, I'll help you get dressed," Emma said.

"I'll do your makeup," Milah then said.

"And MM and I'll repack your purse," Regina said.

"My purse? I don't have a purse," I said. The girls stared at me, as if this hadn't occurred to them.

"I'll run back to my house and pick out a purse for you then," Ruby said decisively.

"Who's watching Henry and Grace for me?" I asked.

"I will," Mary Margaret said.

"I'm going to be working so I can oversee the dates, and Milah and Regina are going to scope out everything as well," Ruby explained. My head spun.

"This is a lot to take in," I admitted, shell-shocked.

"Come on. Take it in as you get dressed," Emma said, ushering me to the stairs.

"What are you doing while I'm on my date?" I asked her as she brought me to the bathroom. She closed the door behind us. The outfit was already in the room.

"I have stuff at home I have to deal with tonight. We're washing off your makeup before you put this outfit on. I don't want you ruining the outfit accidentally," Emma said.

"What makeup?" I asked. I thought Graham had done a good enough job that no one would have noticed anything. Apparently I was wrong.

"You're not the only one who has to cover bruises," Emma told me grimly, answering my unspoken question. She found a wash cloth and washed the makeup off, wincing as she did.

"Damn. You really got hit hard. I'll do a base cover of the bruise before Milah comes in here," Emma promised.

We were easily able to get my pants off, but the sweater took a bit more work.

"How did you manage to put this on yourself?" Emma grumbled when we got one of my sleeves off.

"I didn't. Graham helped me," I told her before I could stop myself.

"Graham, huh?" Emma asked lightly.

"Yes. He's my friend," I said defensively. Emma threw her hands up.

"Calm down. It's okay. He's the gayest kid at our school. It's obvious nothing would be going on between you. Trust me. We tried dating, right before he came out of the closet," Emma explained as we managed to wrestle my arm free.

My arm looked worse than before. It was black and blue in most places, and rather swollen. Emma and I both stared at it. After a few minutes, Emma sighed and started shrugging off her jacket.

"What are you doing?" I asked her as she pulled her shirt off next.

"The outfit I brought won't do. It doesn't have adequate sleeves. I changed when I got home from school, and I've never worn this outfit before. You'll wear this," Emma said.

"I doubt it'll fit me," I said, staring at her. She shrugged and pulled her jeans off.

"I bet it will. It doesn't quite put off the air we were going for, but it'll do," Emma said. She started pulling the shirt on carefully. The shirt hugged my body nicely.

The jeans were a lot more difficult to get on. I could tell they were new jeans. They were incredibly tight. But Emma was right. They did, somehow, manage to fit. Once I was dressed, Emma redid my makeup. Her makeup job looked just as good as Graham's had. Maybe better.

As soon as Emma was done, she opened the door and Milah breezed in.

"I did the base coat of the makeup. We've got twenty minutes to be at the diner," Emma said as she exited. Milah glared after her.

"Of course, you only leave me with twenty minutes," Milah complained as she dumped a makeup bag on the dresser. My eyes widened.

"You aren't going to use all of that, are you?" I asked, hoping she would say no.

"Of course not, silly. I'll only use one of the eyeshadow pallets," Milah said. I didn't get a chance to say anything else because she set out attacking my face with makeup.

It was a silent ten minutes before the door was flung open and I was being propelled down the stairs.

"Wait! I have to say bye to the kids," I protested, fighting against them. I made it back upstairs and knocked quietly on the door. Henry opened it solemnly.

"You look pretty," he told me. I smiled at him, ruffling his hair with my good hand.

"Thanks. You two need to finish your homework while I'm gone. Mary Margaret's going to watch you. There's leftovers in the fridge for supper for you guys. Make sure Mary Margaret uses paper plates and that you leave out the fruit for Father to snack on when he gets home. If it sounds like he is getting home early, the three of you need to hide in the closet and lock the door. Promise?" I asked Henry. He nodded. Only Grace looked scared as Henry hugged me tightly. I hugged him and then hugged Grace as well.

"I'll hopefully have leftovers to bring home," I told them with a smile.

"Get chicken fingers?" Henry asked. I nodded.

"You bet," I told him with a wink before heading back down the stairs.

"I gave Henry instructions," I told Mary Margaret on our way out the door. Ruby thrust a purse at me and I was flung in one of the cars.

When we got to the diner, they abandoned me outside while they hurried inside. I didn't have long to wait. Soon, Hook pulled up on a Harley. He got off and left the helmet sitting on the seat, not even bothering to put it away. He was wearing a smirk as he made his way over to me.

"Hey babe," he said, leaning closer and kissing my cheek. I grimaced. I hope that didn't happen often. I doubted my makeup would be able to withstand it if it did. His arm roped around me, causing me to wince as he sashayed into the diner, me next to him.

The first thing I noticed was how empty it was. Thank goodness. But Granny was there, looking highly disappointed. I tried shooting her a look but she didn't see it. Kathryn did, thankfully, and moved towards Granny. I hoped she would explain something.

Hook didn't even bother to pull my chair out for me. I sat down across from him and he didn't move to touch the menu. He was eyeing me instead. It made me feel slightly nauseous.

"I don't mean to rush you or anything, but I have to watch my siblings tonight. So the date will have to be shorter than what I'm sure you were hoping for," I said, grabbing my menu. To my shock, he started laughing.

"Darling, I don't always sleep with women on the first date. That's a myth. We'll be done early enough for you to get back to the kiddies. If that's what you so desire," he told me, raising his eyebrow suggestively. And he was back to acting how I expected him to. I noticed Milah and Regina slink in the back, sitting in the corner where Henry and Grace usually sat.

Granny made her way over to them and I could tell she wasn't pleased with what they told her. Ruby made her way over to us, blocking them from my sight.

"Can I get you two anything?" she asked perkily. Killian stared at me for a moment before turning to Ruby.

"I'd like a coke and the all you can eat fish," Killian ordered. He glanced over at me, and to my relief, he didn't try ordering for me. I didn't think I'd be able to handle it if he did that.

"I'd like a mello yellow, no ice, and chicken fingers," I told Ruby, knowing I wouldn't be eating a ton of the food. But this was good. These dates would allow me to get food for Grace and Henry.

The date with Killian was spent mainly trying to avoid his advances without turning him off. I was thankful when Ruby came over with the check and told me that there was a call for me from my brother.

This was our symbol to say time was drawing to a close. I knew that, but even with that my heart fluttered at the words. It took a moment to suppress my fear. I nodded at her, smiling.

"Of course. Thank you for taking me out. Will I see you again?" I asked Hook, standing. He nodded immediately, standing as well. Ruby and I had also talked about how she would box my food up for me after I 'left'.

Hook threw money on the table and walked me outside.

"Let me give you a ride home," Hook said. I shook my head.

"I would but I live nearby. Thanks again. See you at school?" I asked him. He nodded, flashing me a smile that I was sure he was used to melting women with.

Then, he was gone.

I made it inside and flashed Ruby a grateful smile.

"I also put Hook's leftovers in there as well. We'll keep them with Regina and Milah while the dates come. Look. Daniel's early," Ruby said, pointing at the door. I turned around to see that Daniel had indeed entered. He smiled when he saw me and made his way over to me.

"Hey Belle! How are you?" he asked. I smiled at him, glad he didn't try kissing my cheek.

He did, however, pull the seat out for me. He was already two steps above Killian.

"I'm doing great. How are you?" I asked. However, before he could answer, my face paled.

Father's car pulled up outside the diner.

I stood quickly, glancing around. There was an open booth next to the one Regina and Milah were in. I walked over to it and slid into it, hunching over. Daniel followed, looking rather confused. His back was to the girls and they were shooting me inquisitive stares, but I shook my head.

"Was there something wrong with that table?" Daniel asked lightheartedly. I shook my head, glancing over my shoulder.

Father entered, smiling at Cora as he did. He was on a date. At least that meant he wouldn't be home.

"I'm sorry. My…father doesn't know I'm out. He wouldn't be very happy to see me out. He gets upset easily," I told him quietly, watching as Ruby, thankfully, sat them far from us, with Father's back to us.

"Hey. I get it. Wait. Was he the one with Cora Mills?" Daniel asked sharply. I nodded uneasily. Daniel whistled lowly.

"That's Regina's mother. The head cheerleader? Her mom's…not a good person," Daniel said uneasily. I nodded.

"My father's worse. Trust me," I told him.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" Daniel asked, concerned. I shook my head.

"We wouldn't be able to leave without being seen. Hopefully he won't look this way," I told him, flashing him an uneasy smile. Ruby took this as her cue to come over.

She took our orders and left. Daniel and I had pleasant conversation, going from talking about growing up on the farm he did to how he got into sports. I offered up tiny tidbits about myself, not much but enough that he would keep talking. He seemed interested in knowing about me. It was…odd. I wasn't expecting it.

He didn't feel like a player.

Then again, if men seemed like players, they wouldn't have women lined up to date them, I'm sure. Hook was an exception. I think.

I hope.

He left after a while. I told him I was going to wait until my father left and Ruby 'offered' me a ride home. Daniel paid for the meal – a complete gentleman – and left after telling me to call him if anything changed and I needed his help.

His earlier than planned departure left time for me to compose myself before the final date of the night. August.

I didn't like this. I didn't like it at all. I hated it. It made me feel sick to my stomach. But the looks the girls kept shooting me said I couldn't stop.

When August did enter, his smirk grew as he made his way to me.

Him I could see as a player. He slid into the booth.

"Hey. You're early," he noted with a Cheshire grin. I nodded. Father was still there. But he looked almost done.

"Sorry. My father had a date here tonight. I'm not allowed to date, and I didn't find out until tonight. So I had to get here early and keep a low profile," I told him, the lie spilling from my lips before I could think twice about it. August winced and nodded.

"I understand that. My father never wanted me dating either. Which is why I don't date, either," he said with a wink.

Yes. He was a player. I could tell in that instant. At least he felt like one, unlike Daniel.

Our date was very much filled with him flirting and me attempting to return it as much as I could without both feeling awkward and leading him on too much. When the date was finished, Father was gone. Good. I said goodbye and, much to my horror, August decided to give me a kiss straight on the lips.

"Good night," he told me with a wink before sauntering out of the diner. My hand automatically flew up to my lips as he got on a motorcycle outside and peeled out. The girls were at my side instantly.

"You hooked all three of them!" Milah squealed, excited. I glanced around the room, uncomfortable. Everyone else was gone, it appeared. I shrugged.

"Can we get home now? I don't like leaving the children alone for so long," I told them. They huffed but we all drove back to the house.

Luckily, Father wasn't home. That meant he was trying his luck with Cora. He hopefully wouldn't be home all night.

And if he did come home, he would be pissed.

As soon as we entered, Grace and Henry all but tackled me. The movement made my arm protest and a light cry escaped my lips.

"We need to take you to see my mother. And the children," Mary Margaret said when she saw me. She looked shaken.

I turned to Ruby instantly.

"Can you run the food up to my room and put it in the mini fridge? The mini fridge is hidden in the closet," I told her. Ruby nodded, a frown marring her face but she ran upstairs nevertheless. I examined the children. Neither of them were hurt when I left.

Father must've come home before going to the diner.

I started with Henry. He had a lovely bruise forming on his cheek, but that wouldn't be too hard to cover up. I was sure Graham could help us with that. He also lifted up his shirt sleeve to show a large band-aide. I pulled him close to me and turned to Grace.

Grace looked like she'd been crying. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she was sniffling. She had bruises on her arm, but it was nothing a jacket couldn't cover. I hugged her and sat Henry down on the table before picking up Grace.

"Emma, can you run upstairs and get the first aide kit or me?" I asked. Mary Margaret whispered directions to it as I rolled up Henry's sleeve. I glanced over at Mary Margaret, noticing that her sleeves were pulled down, whereas they had been up before.

"We were in the kitchen when he got here," Mary Margaret said quietly. I nodded before turning my attention back to Henry. I pulled the band-aide off just as Emma reappeared downstairs.

"Looks like it needs stitches," Emma observed. Of course it did. Because I could totally afford for that hospital bill. I replaced the band-aide with a fresh one and he jumped down. I allowed Grace to get down as well. Her arms had wrapped themselves around my neck while I'd been tending to Henry since I couldn't hold her with the arm I was bandaging Henry up with.

Henry was watching me, internally debating something.

"Belle, we don't have to go to the hospital for me. You can give me stitches. I won't cry this time," Henry promised solemnly. I shook my head.

"No. Grace's father gave us money. I'll pay for it. I should have taken you last time. What did you hit?" I asked him. He pointed at the table.

"We sterilized it like you always do though," Henry said proudly. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Mary Margaret.

"I already called my mom. She said you and him could come by our house and she'd do it free of charge," Mary Margaret said. I nodded apprehensively. Part of me wanted to refuse, but I knew better. I wasn't too proud to accept help. Not when it meant keeping Henry safe.

And now Grace.

Poor, poor Grace. I offered her a small smile and the girl wrapped her arms around me.

"He doesn't like me," Grace told me. I sighed and nodded. Henry pulled his sleeve down.

"I'll go grab our jackets," Henry said quietly, running up the stairs.

"Honey, he doesn't like anyone. He doesn't like Henry either. And he hates me," I told her, hoping it'd make her feel better. She didn't respond to it, but I could tell the thought of someone not liking her tore her up.

"We should probably have everyone leave. If Father is unsuccessful, he'll come home pissed," I told them when Emma made it back to the kitchen. Regina looked disgusted.

"At least I know my mother isn't preying on anyone innocent this time," Regina said.

"Your mother?" Mary Margaret asked, suddenly very curious. Regina nodded.

"My mother is dating Belle's father," Regina admitted.

"We need to get going," I told them once more. Henry arrived downstairs, his jacket already on. He gently tugged Grace from my arms and put hers on her as well.

"We'll see you guys later," Mary Margaret said as she led us to her car.

She didn't say a word until we got in. Once again, the children had no car seat. I wish I'd thought to bring something with for them to sit on, but it'd slipped my mind.

"Why do you let him abuse you?" Mary Margaret asked quietly as she pulled out of the alley. I sighed.

"They'll take Henry away. And Grace too, now. I turn eighteen soon. Once I turn eighteen, he'll go to leave and we'll just stay behind. At that point I'll be able to adopt Henry and Grace as my own," I told her.

"So you plan on adopting them? What about college?" Mary Margaret asked curiously.

"I don't need college. It would be nice, but I don't have that luxury. They need a constant. I doubt Grace had much of a constant growing up, and they both need one of they are to grow up as decent humans," I told her.

"I don't think I've ever met someone so self-sacrificing," Mary Margaret said in awe. Her words caused me to laugh.

"I'm not self-sacrificing. I'm selfish. They're the only thing I have left of my mother," I told her.

"What happened to your mom?" Mary Margaret asked quietly.

"She died. A long time ago," I told her shortly.

"And the children are..?" she questioned.

"My mother's sister's kids. She didn't want them. The father took one but left Henry. But the father's never been very stable," I told her quietly. We pulled into the driveway of a house that was borderline mansion. Mary Margaret parked the car and got out quickly. I hopped out as well, opening the door for the children.

Mary Margaret led us to the house where a woman yanked the door open immediately. The woman resembled Mary Margaret, and, judging by the way she hugged her tightly, was her mother. I stood back a bit.

Was that how mothers reacted always? Even when their children reached teenage years? I wish I'd gotten to experience that.

Mary Margaret's mother pulled back and motioned us closer.

"Come in! You must be Belle," she said. I awkwardly nodded and followed her in, followed closely by the children who had latched themselves to my sides.

The door was closed behind us and we followed her to what looked like a doctor's office. In her house? They really were quite rich.

"Belle, sit on the table please," she told me. I shook my head.

"Fix up Henry first, please. I'll be fine," I said, waving her off. She frowned but lifted Henry onto the table. Grace clutched my hand tightly, worriedly. Even Henry looked apprehensive.

"Please call me Eva. Mary Margaret told me what happened. Does that happen often?" Eva asked sharply. I stared at her, knowing she would be able to feel my stare.

"I am eighteen soon. He'll leave us here once I've turned eighteen," I told her apathetically.

"How soon is soon?" Eva asked, turning to me.

"January 2nd," I told her.

"And he plans on just upping and leaving you and two children?" Eva asked, confused. She turned back to Henry and started dabbing at his cut. It did look quite nasty.

"Yeah. He adopted Henry because my mother forced him to on her dying bed. He technically has no right to Grace, not even guardianship," I told her.

"Where's Grace's family?" Eva asked.

"Her father is…mentally unstable. He dropped her off with me the other day saying that someone was chasing him," I told her.

"You can't report us though," I said instantly.

"Oh?" Eva asked.

"No. We'll be fine," I said automatically. I started to add something else on, but something else caught my attention. There were a few bruises at the top of Henry's arm.

"Henry. Where did those come from?" I asked sharply. Henry's eyes followed mine to the bruises and he shrugged.

"They happened when I fell at school," Henry said.

I pushed my way closer to him, examining them. Then Henry's face.

"You don't bruise from falling," I told him with narrowed eyes. Henry sighed, exasperated.

"We were playing and Bae shoved me. I sort of fainted halfway through the shove so it turned out to have a lot more force," Henry admitted.

"The nuns didn't mention you being shoved," I told him. I would have crossed my arms if the one arm wasn't hurt. Eva finished patching him up as I waited for Henry's answer.

"Bae didn't want to get in trouble. It wasn't his fault. It's not like he caused me to faint," Henry retorted.

"Why did you faint?" Eva asked him as she helped him off the table. She motioned for me to move up there and I did. She peeled the jacket off and started to work on the arm.

"I dunno," Henry said with a shrug.

"He's…sick. I think. It's happened twice now," I said. Eva frowned.

"Henry, would you mind if I take some of your blood so I can try to find out what's wrong with you?" Eva asked him. Henry looked at me, eyebrows furrowed.

"Will it cost a lot of money?" he questioned. And just like that, I knew we needed to do it.

"Henry will do it," I said immediately as Eva put the final touches on the thin cast.

"You should be able to wear clothes over this. I'm assuming you're going for discretion," Eva said. I nodded, getting down. Henry reluctantly got on the table and Eva pulled out a needle. Henry's eyes were glued on me.

He was terrified of needles.

"Did you have fun tonight with Mary Margaret?" I asked him intently. Henry nodded slightly.

"She's fun. Can she watch us again sometime?" Henry asked.

"You want her to watch you again?" I asked, confused.

"Well….I don't want you to leave us. But I like her. She's nice," Henry said as Eva pushed the needle in his arm. He winced.

"I'm glad you like her. What did you do?" I asked him. Seeing Henry's blood made me feel slightly queasy.

"She braided Grace's hair. And helped me with homework. She made Grace happy," Henry said. Eva pulled the needle out.

"Done," Eva said with a smile.

"Do you need mine too?" Grace asked, her voice quiet. Eva turned to her, confused.

"They're twins," I said. Grace looked so brave that Eva nodded.

Grace didn't do anything as Eva took her blood.

"Have you had your blood taken before, Grace?" Eva asked the calm girl. Grace nodded.

"Daddy always thought I was sick and made people look at me," Grace explained. I nodded. Of course he did.

"We need to get home now. Thanks for the help. I've still got to get homework done and it's past their bedtimes," I told Eva. She nodded. She seemed to want to mention something else but thought otherwise.

Mary Margaret drove us home in silence. When she pulled up outside the house, she paused.

"Mom is supposed to report anyone she suspects is being abused. It's the law. She can get in a lot of trouble for not doing it," Mary Margaret said uncomfortably.

"I know. But it's for a few weeks. In a few weeks, everything will be fine. I promise. Henry and Grace will be safe. Make sure your mother knows that," I told her. She nodded slightly but still didn't look comfortable. She didn't even send me a smile when she drove off, only focusing on the road with a slightly hazy look.

The next morning, Graham was there when I woke up. Not only was he there, but he had the children up and dressed and eating breakfast. I woke up to the sound of laughter in the kitchen. When I shot him an inquisitive look, he shrugged.

"Bad night at home. I figured I'd get out as soon as I could. And figured you could use some help," he said simply. I nodded.

"I'll keep them busy. Can you get ready on your own now?" Graham asked. I nodded, holding up the cast.

"Yeah. Unless I knock myself out with this thing," I told him with a smile. He nodded, chuckling at my words.

Because of his helpfulness, we got the children to school early enough for them to play with Henry's friends. I hoped Grace would make friends soon too. Graham and I also got to school rather early, early enough for him to help me finish the last of the homework I hadn't gotten to before.

The day went by without problems until Chemistry. Of course. I was expecting that. The moment I walked in, I noticed Rumplestiltskin's eyes on me. On my cast.

"Nice cast. I could have helped you, you know," he said, obviously irritated. I didn't answer him.

"No one else noticed a cast," I pointed out. He shook his head.

"Your arm's a bit too bulky. It's rather obvious actually," Rumplestiltskin said smugly. I huffed and opened my book.

"Look. I'm sorry. I'm just…I offered to help. And you refused. Why? Why won't you accept me?" he asked, obviously frustrated.

"Did you ever think that maybe I wasn't your type?" I asked him sarcastically. If the girls were here, they would be pissed. But I couldn't handle him. I really couldn't.

"My type? Girl is my type," Rumplestiltskin said, sounding almost shocked that I'd said anything.

"Well maybe you're not my type. You're not deep enough," I said the first thing that came to mind. Which wasn't the best thing.

"Deep? I've dated the entire poetry club. I'm deep," he said. I almost laughed at him until I realized he was serious. He seriously thought that made him qualified. And that was the saddest thing of all. I shook my head, ignoring him for the rest of class. When the bell rang, he leapt up and grabbed my backpack.

"At least let me drive you to pick up Henry and Grace. And to work," he begged. I sighed and nodded.

"Good. And let me take you out on a date," he added, grinning. He obviously thought he had won me over.

But I knew what the girls would say. So I nodded.

"Fine. One date. Later. I work tonight," I told him. Rumplestiltskin nodded.

"I'm busy tonight too. Family matters," he added quickly, noticing the skepticism that covered my face. I nodded, still not sure if I believed him but not feeling like calling him out on it.

As we exited the classroom, Graham was waiting on me. His jaw tightened when he saw Rumplestiltskin.

"Are you ready to go?" Graham asked.

"She's going with me today, Wolf-boy," Rumplestiltskin said, waving him off. Graham looked absolutely feral. I kicked his foot to get his attention. My good arm was full of books so I couldn't just tap him on the shoulders.

"It'll be fine. I work tonight if you want to come by and say hi to the kids," I told him softly. Graham nodded, still angry but not willing to make a scene. Thankfully. I followed Rumplestiltskin to his car and got in as fast as I could. I noticed that August saw me get into Rumplestiltskin's car. And his eyes narrowed.

"How's it going with two children?" Rumplestiltskin asked her as they drove to the convent.

"Just like it did with one child. Only with two," I said sarcastically.

"I'm serious. You have a job. And are a senior in high school. And are raising two children. And don't have a good home life. That's got to be stressing you out," Rumplestiltskin observed.

"I'm fine," I said automatically. I didn't like the direction he was trying to take this conversation.

"I'm just saying, I could help…alleviate some of that stress. If you want," Rumplestiltskin offered. The glance he shot me was definitely feral. I chose to ignore it, thankful to see the convent looming closer. There were cars already there. I breathed out a sigh in relief. That meant I didn't have to worry about Mother Superior lecturing me about being an awful, 'parent'.

When the car stopped, I rolled down the window. Henry spotted me instantly and ran up to the car, dragging Grace behind him. He opened the door and they both crawled in. I turned around to face them.

"Buckle up," I told them, waiting to make sure they did. Both dutifully clipped the seatbeats into place, eyes on me. And also on Rumplestiltskin.

"How was your day at school?" I asked them. Grace frowned but Henry kicked her foot, causing the frown to melt away and be replaced with a false smile.

"It was great!" she said, but I knew better.

"What happened?" I asked her. Henry glared at the ground for a moment.

"Nothing happened. Some kids were mean today, but we took care of them," Henry said ominously. My blood ran cold.

"You didn't hit them, did you?" I asked him sharply. Henry looked offended.

"No! I threatened them though. They were saying horrible things about you, and then to Grace," Henry defended himself. I shook my head.

"Henry, please don't. You have to learn to ignore it. People will say mean things to and about you all your life. You can't let it affect you," I told him sternly.

"You don't let it affect you, but you get mean if someone says anything about me," Henry pointed out.

"I…Henry, don't say mean things to people anymore, please?" I begged. He was right. I did get defensive when people insulted Henry.

"Just drop us off at the diner, please," I told Rumplestiltskin quietly before turning around once more. Grace was trying to wipe a tear from her face.

"I told them you were my mommy and they said a lot of mean words about you," Grace admitted, hiccupping. I shook my head.

"Darling, you don't have to defend me," I told her.

"I have a question. Are you their mother or not? I can't seem to figure it out, " Rumplestiltskin asked, frowning.

"By blood, no. Otherwise, yes," I told him patiently.

"Oh," was the answer I got from him. He dropped us off at the diner and I hurried the children inside. I was able to get them started on their homework before I had to put my apron on and start serving. I was thankful to be starting early so I had time to adjust my writing and carrying before it picked up.

Sure enough, by six the place was packed. Both Kathryn and Ruby were working as well, thankfully. Granny had taken one look at my arm and sighed but said nothing more.

Around six thirty, my father walked in.

The sight of him caused me to momentarily freeze. I hurriedly went to refill a man's water, only to spill it on myself. I apologized to the man and got him a new drink before hurrying into the kitchen.

I had to take off the hoodie I was wearing. My long sleeved shirt didn't hide my cast like the hoodie did, but at least the shirt was dry. So I dropped my hoodie off by the children and started serving again.

To my misfortune, Father sat in my section. I approached his table with caution. Only to be shocked once more.

Cecilia was with him. And so was Rumplestiltskin and a little boy. His younger brother? Probably.

"Can I get you some drinks?" I asked them, itching to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear but knowing I couldn't do it. My good hand was, after all, holding my pen and the other hand awkwardly clutched my notepad. Father glanced up at me. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"I'd like a coke," he said gruffly before motioning for Cecilia to answer. She hadn't looked up yet. But Rumplestiltskin had.

"Water, please," Cecilia said. Rumplestiltskin and the boy both muttered coke. I hurried back to the kitchen and got their drinks. I knew better than to keep Father waiting, even for a few minutes. It would be punishment later.

As I handed them their drinks and asked for their orders, Father answered and so did the boys. Cecilia started to give me her order but looked up in the middle of it. And stopped.

"Belle?" she asked, shocked but smiling. Father's carefree smile momentarily faltered. And I was given a glare.

"Did you want fries with the grilled cheese?" I asked her politely, hoping it was what Father wanted. She nodded, looking as if she was trying to find the words for something. I didn't give her a chance. I hurried back and put the order in.

As I was waiting on tables near theirs, I heard her start to ask Father about me. Why I was working instead of eating with them, but Father waved her off, not even acknowledging me.

"I thought you said your daughter wasn't able to come with us tonight. She could have asked off of work," Cecilia accused.

"She's your daughter?" Rumplestiltskin asked, shocked. The words nearly caused me to drop a plate I'd been removing from a table. I was lucky I had a good grip on it.

"Yes. But she works a lot. She's saving up money for a car. I told her she had to earn the money herself. Teaching her responsibility. But all she does is spend it on clothes. Teenagers. How do you know her?" Father asked suspiciously. His answer made my blood boil but I hid it.

"I don't. She goes to my school. We don't hang around the same social circles," Rumplestiltskin lied.

I didn't know if I felt relieved of hurt at that.

**12357809976421**

**What do you think? I hope it wasn't repetitive. For those of you concerned over Mary Margaret's mother not reporting Belle right now, remember, this is a FANFICTION. Not everything that happens in fanfictions is one hundred percent logical. Just go with it. I know that it is not logical or reasonable. But it had to be that way. So please, if you have an issue with that, ignore it and don't tell me about it.**

**Otherwise, leave a review! ;)**

**Andi**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it took so long! Read and Review!**

Chapter 8

It was Saturday. And I was not happy. Father had not returned home last night, leaving the children and I to do our homework in peace. However, it was already three in the afternoon and I'd already gone on both of my prearranged dates.

Archie and David were nice. Very nice. Neither of them seemed like players. Neither of them gave off any sort of air. They seemed like nice guys.

And it only made me feel more guilty about everything.

I'd told the girls I wanted to be alone for awhile. And luckily, they allowed it.

"Belle, Grace hasn't seen the park yet. Can we take her?" Henry asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

"The park?" I asked, confused. I hadn't taken him to a park. At least, I didn't remember taking him to a park.

"My friend told us about it. He says he goes there every Saturday with his dad. Can we go? I've never been to a park before," Henry begged, his brown eyes huge.

"How far away is the park?" I asked him, conceding. Henry's eyes lit up.

"It's not far. Can we go now?" he begged. I glanced over at their homework; they were done. My homework was almost finished as well. And we had time before father would come home. He worked until seven on Saturdays, unless he asked off for a date.

"Okay. Go get changed. Let's go," I told him, allowing myself to smile for his benefit. His eyes lit up and he grabbed Grace's hand, dragging her up the stairs after him.

I picked up their homework and put it back in their backpacks before bringing it upstairs. The two were almost done changing when I entered the room.

"Are you going to change too?" Grace asked.

"Nah. I figured I'd let you two play with each other. If that's okay?" I asked them. The two shared a knowing look before nodding.

Something in their look had me alarmed. I didn't know what it was, but I had a feeling they were planning something. Something I wouldn't like.

"We already picked clothes for you!" Henry said though, looking crestfallen. I sighed and stripped off my shirt, pulling the shirt he left for me over my head.

It wasn't a shirt. It was a dress. I didn't even know I owned a dress. Grace and Henry giggled at my dumbfounded expression.

"Can I brush your hair?" Grace asked. Without waiting for an answer, the girl dashed to the bathroom and came back with a hairbrush in tow. She jumped onto the bed and I sat down with a sigh.

"What are we really doing?" I asked the children, but got no answer.

When we finally left the house, the kids were bouncing with excitement. Today was the only day I had off of work entirely since getting a job, and the children were dead set on enjoying it.

We were walking to the park when Grace spoke up.

"Why does your dad hit you?" Grace asked curiously. The question caused Henry to stiffen but he kept walking.

"He's our father. Not our dad. Dads are kind people. Fathers are not. And he misses my mother," I tell the girl.

"My dad missed my mom, but he never beat me," Grace pointed out.

"Jefferson missed your mom?" I asked sharply, confused. If I remembered the slivers of conversations I'd overheard, Jefferson left Grace and Henry's mom when he learnt she was pregnant, only returning to take Grace. Grace nodded solemnly.

"Every day he cried for her," Grace told me. Her words nearly stopped me.

If he had stayed with my mom's sister, she probably would have kept the children. And they would have had happy lives, instead of the lives they were stuck with. I kept that realization to myself as we approached the park. It was deserted.

The children immediately ran for the playground, allowing me to drop onto the park bench. The playground wasn't too big, but I could see where it would be fun for children like Henry who'd never gotten to play on one before. I didn't know if Grace had ever been to a playground before. There was little I truly knew about Grace.

A few minutes after we arrived, I see a little boy take off running past me in a blur. He hugs Henry and Grace tightly before glancing over at me. And then behind me.

"Come on dad!" he cried out.

Suddenly it clicked.

The boy was the one who'd been with Cecilia and Rumplestiltskin last night.

Did that mean that Cecilia was playing my father like he was playing her?

I resisted the urge to turn around. After a few minutes, someone plopped down on the bench next to me. Only then did I glance over.

To see Rumplestiltskin.

I jumped. My eyes were wide, and Rumplestiltskin refused to meet my gaze.

My eyes immediately went back to the playground. The three children were giggling, still staring in our direction. And it all clicked. Exactly what they were trying to do. I lurched to my feet. When they saw me stand, I saw Henry turn to the boy quickly.

"I told you she'd figure it out, Bae!" he accused loudly.

So this was the Bae he'd been talking about. I walked over to them, staring sternly at the kids.

"Is this your attempt at playing matchmaker?" I asked them, watching as Grace giggled and Henry shook his head no quickly. Bae was staring behind her – at his father – instead.

"Bae said he didn't really have a mom, and I told him we really didn't have a father. We thought we could share you two," Henry said. This made my eyebrow raise.

"Get back to playing. We can't stay here all afternoon. Looks like rain," I told them loudly before turning around and making my way back to the bench. Rumplestiltskin was watching me carefully.

"Is that why you kept asking if Henry was my son? Were you hoping to relate to me?" I asked him as I took the seat I'd been sitting in. Rumplestiltskin sighed and ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"It was a nice thought. No one at the school knows about Bae. I figured, if you had your own son, you wouldn't mind me having one," Rumplestiltskin told me.

"He goes to school with them. They're best friends. You don't pick him up from school though," I stated my question, hoping he'd answer.

"Mom does that for me. She pretends to be his mom for them. They're so…harsh," Rumplestiltskin complained. I had to laugh at that.

"That's the truth. I get the third degree every time I step onto their property, and I'm not even their mother. They just assumed it," I told him. He shook his head.

"Nuns," he said, irritated.

"Did you know what they were doing?" I asked him, hoping to change the conversation to something lighter. Rumplestiltskin shook his head.

"I always bring Bae to the park on Saturday afternoons. He was in a hurry to get here today though. I should have been more suspicious. And here I thought he just really wanted to spend time with me," Rumplestiltskin said with a dark laugh.

"Why didn't your father acknowledge you last night? It really upset my mother," Rumplestiltskin asked. I sighed, not really wanting to answer his question.

"Father never acknowledges me around his girlfriends. He introduces us, but he hates me and Henry interacting with them. He's afraid we'll give something away. Speaking of, your mom should stay away from him. He's not a nice man," I informed him.

"I got that feeling from him. And I feel Mom does too now," Rumplestiltskin said. We were silent for a few minutes, watching the children play. At one point, Grace shoved Bae down the slide, only for him to pull her down after them. Henry was laughing at them until he too was taken down.

"So how about that date?" Rumplestiltskin asked her, sounding slightly awkward.

I immediately hated myself.

"What about it?" I asked him. I hoped he'd drop it. He'd opened himself to me. Told me something no one else knew about him. I wished I hadn't met the girls, that they hadn't sucked me into this scheme.

"What about pizza and a movie at my house with the kids?" he asked.

It was the perfect date, in my opinion. But I didn't really want to face his mom. Not when I'd have to blatantly lie to her face.

"I can't. I'll get in trouble if I spend any time with your mother. Trust me," I told him. There had been one woman, Kiran, when I was thirteen, that I'd gotten close to. It'd only infuriated Father to see me growing close to her. After that, I tended to stay away from his girlfriends.

"What about your house then?" Rumplestiltskin asked. Again, I hesitated.

"Father can't see you. If he recognizes you, we'll be gone by morning. I'm not old enough to stay alone. He'll force us with him," I said awkwardly.

"Has that happened before?" Rumplestiltskin asked. I ignored him, watching Grace and Henry have fun. Henry was having more fun with Bae and Grace than he'd had in years. It brought a rueful smile to my lips.

"Even though you're not their mother, you've done a good job," Rumplestiltskin said quietly.

"Henry's been miserable for years. And abused. I'm just grateful he can have one afternoon of happiness," I whisper softly.

"Mom's a lawyer. She can get you guys away from him," Rumplestiltskin pointed out. I couldn't help but laugh at his suggestion.

"She wouldn't be the first to try. Plus, she's dating him. She's at a disadvantage. Regina offered her mother's services too, but she had the same problem," I muttered.

"Wait – your father is dating my mom and Regina's mom?" Rumplestiltskin asked incredulously. I shrugged.

"He's a player. Sound familiar?" I asked bitingly before I could stop myself. Rumplestiltskin looked furious.

"My mother deserves better than that," Rumplestiltskin declared.

"Any woman does," I said pointedly.

"I'll tell her," Rumplestiltskin said decisively.

"And if you do that, you'll never see us again. Father always leaves town the moment a confrontation happens," I pointed out.

"Let's go back to your house. We can pick up pizza on the way. If it sounds like your father's coming home, we'll hide," Rumplestiltskin stated. I finally shrugged. Rumplestiltskin stood and made his way over to the playground.

"How do you kids feel about pizza for supper?" he asked loudly. All three children stopped playing and stared at him, eyes wide.

"YES!" Grace cried, excitedly. Henry nodded as well, as did Bae.

"It worked!" Bae exclaimed. I couldn't think of breaking it to them that it had nothing to do with them.

"How far away do you live?" Rumplestiltskin asked.

"About two blocks," I told him. He nodded thoughtfully.

"We'll leave the car here and walk with you. The pizza place is just over there," Rumplestiltskin pointed.

"You aren't afraid of being seen in public with me?" I asked scathingly before I could stop myself. Rumplestiltskin's footing faltered but he maintained a cool façade.

"I could ask you the same thing," he retorted coolly. I ignored him as we made it to the pizza place. He walked in and two minutes later, walked out with three pizzas.

"How did you get them so fast?" I asked incredulously.

"I have my ways," Rumplestiltskin said with a wink.

"The place says hot and ready," Grace pointed out with a giggle. Rumplestiltskin deflated slightly at her words. I laughed as well and we continued the walk home.

We were lucky. Father wasn't home. I opened the door and the kids ran inside. Rumplestiltskin grabbed the door from me and held it open. I walked in and immediately grabbed paper plates and napkins from the kitchen. The kids were already getting situated in the living room. I brought the plates in and they all but attacked the food.

As we were eating, I got a phone call. From a private number. I frowned. I told Rumplestiltskin to put a movie in and hurried into the other room to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Belle?"

It was Jefferson. He sounded completely crazy. Utterly deranged. And I got that all from one word.

"Jefferson. Your daughter misses you. Wants to know why you abandoned her," I said lowly.

"Is she safe? No one's came to hurt her yet?" Jefferson wanted to know.

"Yes. She's safe from strangers. But you know who she's not safe from? My father. You left her here, with me and Henry and an abusive man. You know he's abusive. Why did you do that?" I asked him harshly.

"Maurice is safer for her than the people after me," Jefferson told me.

"Just who do you think is after you, Jefferson? What is really going on with you?" I asked him, irritated.

"You wouldn't believe me. And that's good. They won't harm a nonbeliever. You'll keep them away from Grace. And keep her safe," Jefferson rambled.

"Jefferson, you're mentally unstable right now. You need to go to a doctor," I tried telling him calmly. But I barely go the words out before he was loudly disagreeing with me.

"No! They'll lock me up and then I'll be easy prey. I can't let that happen!" he cried out.

"Good bye Jefferson. I have to go raise your children," I told him flatly, hanging up.

He didn't bother calling back.

I made it back to the living room and sat down. The kids had picked Beauty and the Beast, one of the few movies we owned. The only spot that was open was the spot next to Rumplestiltskin on the love seat. I held in my sigh and plopped down next to him.

His arm immediately fell around my shoulders.

"Who was that?" he asked quietly. For a moment, I was furious. Until I realized he was just inquiring, not implying things.

"Jefferson. He's losing his mind," I told him quietly.

"Does that happen often?" Rumplestiltskin asked, attempting to sound light but failing miserably.

"More often than not. This is the first time he's left Grace with us though," I admitted.

"You have one hell of a family," Rumplestiltskin said as he shook his head.

"You have no idea," I murmured.

By the end of the movie, the pizza was finished and the children were tired. I sent them upstairs to play while I cleaned up. I was in the middle of washing cups when I felt Rumplestiltskin behind me.

"I could have helped, you know," he whispered in my ear.

"I've got it," I told him unnecessarily. His hands wrapped around my waist and he pushed himself against me. I was sandwiched in between the sink and him. I quickly finished washing the dishes, knowing better than to leave them in the sink. I managed to turn around, but the moment I was facing him, I was pressed back against the counter.

He leaned closer, impossibly closer…

"What's going on here?"

That voice sent ice through my blood. Sheer horror covered me. Of course he'd be home. Of course tonight he would come home early from drinking. I closed my eyes, momentarily praying he'd drank enough to not remember this tomorrow. When I opened my eyes, I ignored Rumplestiltskin's look of both horror and confusion. I was able to push him back away from me.

"Father, it's not what it looks like. He's a friend from school. We had to do a project together," I lied, hoping that the children had enough sense to stay upstairs.

A glance at the stairs showed that Henry saw me. His expression looked scared but he nodded at me and ran back up the stairs. He'd hide his sister and Bae. They'd be safe.

Father chuckled darkly at me.

"My dear Belle. Do you remember the last time a friend came over for homework help? Or that time your friend was babysitting for you?" Father threw in the last one just for kicks. The friend had been two towns ago and we'd been forced to leave the next morning.

The only way I could convince Father that we didn't have to leave is if he saw Rumplestiltskin as nothing permanent, merely a one time thing.

And hopefully Father was drunk enough not to recognize him.

"Father, you've caught me. See, it isn't homework he's here for. But you already knew that," I told Father, appealing to his ego. He seemed to enjoy that, waiting for me to continue.

"Jake here was really horny and decided he had to come over. I'm so sorry. It won't happen again," I lied, lowering my eyes.

Father chuckled darkly.

"Then by all means, don't let me stop you."

I glanced at him, noticing he was dead serious.

"Come on Jake. Let's go upstairs," I said, pulling him towards the stairs. We made it my room before I locked the door and turned to him.

"He should pass out soon. Then you can leave," I told him. He looked completely shaken.

But nothing could have prepared me for what he did next.

Rumplestiltskin grabbed me before I could walk away from him and pulled me into a passionate kiss. My vision nearly seemed to explode in bright colors at the feel of his lips against mine. When he pulled back, his hands were cupping my face.

"The children are still in the closet," I breathed.

Rumplestiltskin pressed one more kiss to my lips before pulling back. I pulled the children from the closet hiding spot and grabbed Bae.

"I'll go check to see if he's in his room yet. If he is, you two need to hightail it out of here," I told Rumplestiltskin, handing him Bae's hand. He nodded. I slowly crept down the stairs, keeping my eyes peeled.

Even from the kitchen, I could hear Father's loud snores. I sighed in relief, sneaking out the back door. I motioned for them to follow me.

"I hope you had fun with Henry and Grace," I told him, offering him up a weak smile. Bae nodded and took off running with Rumplestiltskin. At the end of the alley, he stopped and turned around, blowing me a kiss. I couldn't help but laugh at him before closing the door.

When I got upstairs, Henry was on the phone. My first thought was to rip it from him. But he smiled at me.

"It's Ruby. They want to talk to you about your date with Rumplestiltskin. I told them they couldn't come over though," Henry told me. I took the phone from him.

"How did it go?" Ruby screeched.

"Bad. Father came home. Please. I'd rather not talk about it," I told her, feeling drained both physically and emotionally. There was silence on the other line.

"Okay," Ruby said quietly. The girls hung up and I tossed the phone aside.

"Henry, you get shower first. Hurry," I told him, sending him to the shower while I got his clothes laid out.

"Did that man hurt you?" Grace asked me quietly as I got her clothes out as well. I shook my head.

"No. He's nice," I reassured her. The last thing I wanted to do was burden her with the truth of Rumplestiltskin, if I could even call it truth. Even he was starting to show that he was different from what the girls had described him as.

It was bad enough that Henry noticed those things. I didn't want poor Grace to have to too. I had just gotten our clothes laid out when I heard a knock on the window. Our second floor window. I hurried over to it.

Graham was in the tree across from our window. I opened the window quickly.

"Graham!" I exclaimed quietly. He put a finger to his lips and crawled closer. He barely managed to get himself in the window.

He looked pretty bad. He was bruised up. Badly.

"Are you okay?" he asked me quietly.

"Bad day. You?" I asked. He nodded as well.

"Very bad. Can I spend the night tonight? It's…not good at home," Graham muttered. I nodded.

"Of course. Grace, why don't you bring your clothes to the bathroom and Henry's as well. Go ahead and hop in as soon as Henry gets out," I told her. She did as I said and the moment she was gone, I threw myself into Graham's arms. He winced at it and I winced, knowing I'd caused it.

"What happened to you?" I asked Graham. He sighed.

"Foster Dad's work friends came over for poker night. They got drunk and decided to beat the wolf kid. Just the usual. But they didn't look like they were leaving anytime soon," Graham stated.

"And you?" Graham asked.

"Father walked in and Rumplestiltskin was over. I convinced him Rumplestiltskin was just some horny teen and Father sent us upstairs to 'have fun'," I told Graham quietly, in case the children came in early. Graham's arms were wrapped tightly around me once more.

"Oh Belle," Graham whispered.

"He didn't, if that's what you were thinking. I just hadn't thought he thought that little of me," I said sadly.

We didn't move until the children entered the room in awhile. When then did, I took my shower and Graham took one as well. When we were all clean, I tucked the children into the bed and Graham and I made a little bed out of the extra blanket I had and slept on the floor in front of the bed.

It felt good to have arms wrapped around me, offering me comfort instead of me being the comforter.

**1235689098753221**

**Sorry if this seems a bit awkward. Originally in this chapter, there was going to be a rape, but I took it out because I didn't really like it. If there's a part I forgot to remove that seems a bit awkward, that's why. I hope it isn't too bad. Please review with what you think. **

**I'll try not to wait so long next time to update!**

**Andi**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"What the hell is going on here?"

I jerked upward, terrified. Standing over me was Father. And lying next to me was Graham. Father was fuming.

"You little slut," Father growled, grabbing me by the arm. I was thankful it was my good arm he grabbed me by this time. My luck didn't last. Father used his free hand to punch me in the face, dropping me as he did. Graham had woken up by that time and was Father's next victim. Henry and Grace were awake as well, eyes wide in horror.

"Don't move," I whispered to them, hoping Father would leave them alone. He was currently slamming his fist into Graham's face. Graham slammed into the wall and I hurriedly placed myself in between Father and the children. His eyes narrowed at me.

"If that's what you were wanting, whore, I could have taken care of that a long time ago," Father said darkly. Father grabbed me by the neck, squeezing tightly. My eyes widened and I tried to pry his fingers away. He laughed at me once more. My vision was starting to blacken around the edges. Graham's eyes were wide and he was also trying to pry Father's hands from my throat.

It wasn't until my vision had gone completely black that I felt him let go. I dropped to the ground in a heap, praying the children wouldn't move.

"Worthless," Father muttered as he left the room.

"Belle? Stay awake," Graham begged. I blinked hazily as the world started to clear up. Henry and Grace were on me in an instant, crying and hugging me tightly.

"I'm fine," I told them, but my throat hurt. Graham helped me to my feet, but kept his arm around me.

"We're going to go to my house for the morning. I don't want you here alone for any amount of time, and my foster parents work during the day," Graham told me.

"I have work at noon," I told him. Graham's jaw tightened.

"Then I'm coming with you. And we've got to get your makeup looking good. Your neck is already bruising," Graham said bitterly.

"I want to go home," Grace cried. Graham turned and smiled down at her.

"How about you and Henry go get your clothes on real quick. Please?" Graham asked her. Grace sniffled but nodded. Her and Henry both grabbed their clothes and rushed into the bathroom. Graham helped me sit up and shook his head.

"It isn't safe here. What if he'd done that to the kids?" Graham asked.

"He wouldn't," I told him instantly. Graham shook his head.

"But what if he did? I don't want you here alone. Ever," Graham said.

"What are you going to do? Move in? You saw how he reacted to you," I shot back. Graham shook his head.

"My birthday is Tuesday. How big is your closet?" Graham asked. Instead of waiting for an answer, he stood and examined the closet. He nodded.

"I don't have very many possessions. We can hide them in there along with Grace's papers and the fridge. I'll make things work for us. Your father thinks you're a slut. Let him. Let him think we're sleeping together. Then he won't get flighty," Graham told me. I nodded slowly.

"He's going to leave soon. I can feel it. It's any day now. Then, if I can manage to stay alone, we'll have to deal with all the bills on our own," I told him quietly.

"I've already got money saved up. Don't worry. I've got a job, and I can get a second if push comes to shove," Graham told me.

"You're doing an awful lot for a friend," I told him somewhat suspiciously. Graham smiled at me and shook his head.

"You're my friend? I was gonna go for younger sister, but whatever you want to say to help you sleep at night," Graham told me with a wink. I couldn't help but smile at him. The children entered the room, dressed, faces washed, and hair brushed. Graham helped me up and I pulled some clothes from the drawer, heading to the bathroom. I came back out in a few minutes and we snacked on some of the leftovers I had from dates before Graham led us to his car and we drove to his house.

He lived in a nice house. It even had a white picket fence. If I didn't know what Graham had told me about his foster parents and life, I might've though it was the perfect home for the perfect family. That is exactly how it looked.

We entered quietly, the children nearly glued to my side. Graham led us to his bedroom, which was rather bare. He had me sit down on the bed and pulled a nondescriptive bag of makeup out of his dresser. He immediately started dabbing foundation on my neck, sighing in relief.

"I almost thought it wouldn't match for a moment," Graham told me. He smoothed it down as the children watched, wide-eyed.

"You look normal again!" Henry exclaimed happily as Graham put his makeup away.

"Thanks," I told him sarcastically. He at least had the decency to look chagrined.

"If you guys can help me pack my things, we can drop off some of my stuff there and I can bring the last of it to school Tuesday. There isn't a ton," Graham promised. He pulled out two boxes from under the bed.

"If you kids want to pull the clothes out of the closet and pile them in the tops of these boxes, it'd be a big help," Graham told the kids. Grace and Henry both lunged to their feet, hurrying for the closet. It made me smile to see how energetic they were at that. They loved the thought of helping.

Too soon, we had almost everything of Graham's packed and loaded into his car. We dropped it off at the house, hiding it in the closet before heading to the diner.

My shift at the diner went well as well. Graham took the children to the park to play while I worked, so they wouldn't have to just sit there doing nothing as they usually did. Granny noticed and confronted me when we slowed down.

"You seem awfully close to Graham," she observed. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as I finished wiping the counter off.

"He's been a great friend. He's helped us out a lot," I told her evasively.

"He isn't the one abusing you, is he?" Granny asked suspiciously. I stiffened at her words, eyes going wide. I turned to her, making sure my eyes were normal sized.

"I'm not being abused. And Graham and I are only friends," I pointed out. Granny nodded.

"I didn't think he was. It looks like it's getting worse. If you need, we can have a room for you and your siblings at the inn, if things get too bad," Granny offered quietly. I shook my head.

"Thanks for the offer, but it's unnecessary. I turn eighteen in under a month; Father will leave town within that time, I'm sure. He's getting antsy. We'll just stay here when he leaves and it'll be fine," I said. My eyes widened when I realized what I'd let slip. Granny nodded knowingly.

"But what about until then?" she asked.

"Graham turns eighteen Tuesday. He's moving in with us to offer protection, according to him anyway. And the children are fine," I pointed out.

"Will you get to keep them, or is he planning on taking them with him?" Granny asked.

"He'll leave them with me. He never wanted Henry, and Grace was left with me, not him," I said. She nodded.

"As soon as you turn eighteen, you should get things going to have them moved to your custody. I can help you with that, if you want. I had to get custody of Ruby after her mother ran off when she was young," Granny related.

I hadn't known that of Ruby. I'd known her and Granny were close, but I didn't know how close.

"I'd like that," I said softly.

Before anything else could be said, Ruby rushed in the diner, eyes focused on me.

"Belle! We were just looking for you! We were going to have a sleepover at Granny's hotel tonight and wanted to know if you would be able to be there! We were going to discuss 'Operation Cobra'," Ruby said, making air quotes.

"Operation Cobra?" I asked, amused and confused.

"Yeah. It's what Henry called our whole plan," Ruby said.

"Sure. As soon as I get off work, the kids and I will be there," I told her.

"Take the rest of the afternoon off. You need some fun every now and then," Granny told her with a wink. I glanced outside to see that Graham had just pulled in with the kids.

"I'll be back after we go get my stuff," I told Ruby. I started to leave but stopped when Granny grabbed the strings on the back of my apron.

"I've overheard what Ruby said you're doing. I don't think it's a smart idea. It's eating you up inside. It's not you," Granny advised. I nodded to her. I was planning on telling the girls I didn't want to do it anymore. I figured I'd see what happened after I told them.

**So how is it? Shorter than a normal chapter, but I feel like it's an important chapter, despite being so small. Thanks for the reviews, guys! I really appreciate them! I'm still working on NaNoWriMo, so it's good I had some chapters already typed! What do you think? Yes, Maurice/Moe is a jerk. Yes, it's still unrealistic that Granny isn't reporting him for being abusive. But go with it. Please. I don't feel like dealing with negative energy when I'm trying to create my own novel. **

**:)**

**Andi**


End file.
